Star Fox: Wounds
by Rain Fox
Summary: [CANCELED]
1. Emptiness

**Hey guys, how are you all? Well here's a little idea that's been rounding my mind lately. The idea for this story came to me while I listened to Glasvegas' song "It's my own cheating heart that makes me cry", and is based on SF Command's 4th ending, "Star Wolf Returns". I hope you like it.**

**EDIT: I've retouched this chapter, to try to make it a little more appealing. If this is the first time you read this, well, know that this originally was a mess. Anyhow, please enjoy!**

**RE-EDIT: I've retouched it again. I just gave this another read and noticed it is just as sloppy as before, I didn't do a good job the first and seconds times. This third revision should be better.**

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**Cornerian Capital City, 10:27 pm.

"Hey... hey!" A man called the bartender out in one of the many cantinas spread around the city. He was sitting in front of the bar, ponderously staring at the glass in front of him.

"Yes mister?" The bartender, a black retriever, replied.

"Pour some more of that Bourbon in here, willya?" The man requested coldy and pushed the empty glass towards the man. He didn't even look at the bartender as he did so, he just stared at the wooden bar, pensively.

"Sorry mister, but we're about to close, you'd better go home." The bartender said politely.

The man's ears perked up with surprise. "What? What hour is it?"

"Almost 10:30 mister..." The bartender replied. The man sighed and flattened his ears downheartedly.

"Have I been here so long?" He muttered. It had seen like a short while since he ordered his first round at seven o'clock.

"Yes mister."

The man kept silent, sadly looking at the nothingness in front of him. "Are you okay mister?" The bartender asked with little concern.

"Yeah, I'm off. Thanks for the drinks." The man replied casually and stood up from his seat, grabbed a folded jacket that rested on the chair next to his, and walked out of the building.

"You're welcome..." The dog replied, staring at the leaving man. Once he was outside, he went to the front doors and closed them for the day.

The man looked back at the place to see its doors being closed. He had been the last client of the night. He sighed deeply and walked away from the building. The streets were desolated. It was really dark and no one was outside, and the air was chilling.

The man shivered. "Ugh, it's cold." He said and put on his black jacket, then thought over his current problem: He was too far away from where he lived. Luckily for him, he hadn't to think too much for a solution, since a taxi showed up short after. He whistled and signaled the driver to stop by. The taxi stopped in front of him, and he got into the back seat.

"Good nights mister, where to?" The driver, a white cat, asked politely.

"East Colton 1880." The man replied. The driver nodded and started driving towards the given destination.

During the trip, the driver took short glances at the man behind, from time to time. He couldn't help noticing something familiar about the man in the back of the cab.

"Hey, do I know you?" The cat asked curiously.

"I don't think so." The man replied dryly while he stared outside through the window with his arms crossed.

"I'm sure I've seen you somewhere. Who are you?" The cat insisted. The man in the back of the cab gave him a piercing sare through the retrovisor. "Okay, if you don't want to tell me, then don't" The cat said apologetically and dropped the subject.

The man stood pensive for a while. It wouldn't hurt to refresh his mind. "I'm Fox McCloud." He said.

The driver chuckled as soon as he heard him. "Sure." He said in a sarcastic voice tone.

"I am." Fox repeated and drew out a familiar-looking medal from his jacket's pocket. The driver recognized it immediately. He'd seen that logo everywhere after the Lylat and Aparoid wars ended.

"Holy sh*t! I don't believe this!" The driver laughed excitedly. Fox just huffed and saved the medal back in his pocket. "Mister McCloud, it's an honor to meet you!" The driver said smiling excitedly.

"Hm..." Fox just hummed, indifferently.

The driver's smile faded with this. "Something wrong mister McCloud?" He asked and narrowed his eyebrows.

"Call me Fox." Fox said.

"Okay... Fox, is something the matter?"

"No, nothing's wrong " Fox sighed and gazed outside the window. The driver looked at him with concern.

"Why so sad mister Fox?" The driver asked. Fox ignored him.

"Is it because of those Star Wolf guys?" The cat asked. Fox quickly turned his gaze at him and stared at him with a confused expression.

"What do you mean?" Fox asked.

"I've heard the rumors." The driver replied.

"What rumors?" Fox asked with curiosity.

"You and mister Lombardi were the ones who got that thing needed to enter Venom's sea, weren't you?" The driver asked. Fox didn't reply for a long time and just stared at the driver through the retro visor. He sighed and gazed outside the window.

"I knew." The cat smiled. "Those Star Wolf guys didn't fool me for a single second, you know? I always knew Star Fox were the true heroes." The cat said smiling. Fox did nothing. He acted as if he hadn't heard him.

"Just a part of Star Fox." Fox said after a few moments. "Who did you hear that from?" He asked. He and Falco were the only ones who knew the truth. Well, aside from Star Wolf of course. But they didn't count, it was stupid to think they would degrade themselves by saying the truth. So if he hadn't talked, then it must have been Falco's doing.

"Oh, that rumor has been around for quite a while now." The cat replied.

"Really? I've never heard it." Fox said.

"So it's true?" The cat asked.

Fox was silent for a short while. He didn't like to touch the topic, it was frustrating and enfuriating. But true nonetheless. "Yes." He sighed finally. At least, some people knew the truth.

"Haha! I knew it!" The cat laughed. "Y'know? Star Wolf has been paying for what they did. Oh, they've been paying." The cat said smiling.

Fox stared at him sceptically. "Yeah? How?"

"Well, people have been talking behind their backs, and some even confront them when they see them on the streets. They aren't afraid, they know they're liars. Star Wolf's fame ended long time ago, and lasted much shorter than they expected, I'm sure." The cat replied. Then something came to Fox's mind.

"What about Krystal?" He asked. The cat glanced at him through the mirror, and met his attentive gaze. "She? No one had heard anything from her since a long while."

"So the rumors are true?" Fox asked. He'd heard from someone short ago that she had abandoned Star Wolf, too.

"About that she abandoned Star Wolf?" The cat asked.

"Yes."

"Yeah, they're true..." The cat replied instantly.

"Any idea why is that?" Fox asked.

"Huh, if you don't know, less do I." The cat hummed. "No one's sure, but maybe she got tired..."

"Tired? Of what?" Fox asked with concern.

"People..." The cat sighed.

"People?"

"Yeah, she'd been attacked by the people often ever since she joined that group of suckers." The cat said as he took a left.

"Attacked in which way?"

"Oh, Y'know-"

"No I don't know." Fox grunted angrily, interrupting the man. "That's why I ask."

"Easy man, lemme finish!" The cat exclaimed in a low voice. Fox nodded once. "They'd been calling her all sort of offensive things."

"Like?"

"Traitor, betrayer, liar, heartless-"

"Heartless?" Fox asked with confusion. Why would someone call her heartless?

"Yeah, y'know, because she betrayed you, you know, about all that's been said..." The cat said a bit unsure.

"About what?"

"Well, a romance between you two." The cat replied. Fox opened his mouth slightly and stared at the cat. He sighed deeply and hung his head.

"Was that true too?"

"No, that was not true." Fox sighed and shook his head. Deep inside him he'd wanted it to be true, but, things just didn't went right...

"Then why'd you sigh like that?"

Fox didn't say anything, and just stared outside the window.

"You sure that wasn't true?"

"That's none of your business." Fox growled. The cat raised his eyebrows.

"Okay, okay man..." He said. "So, how are you doing now?" The cat asked, trying to change the subject.

"Terrible."

"I imagine it." The cat huffed.

Fox shook his head. "No, I doubt you understand it."

"Oh, but I do man. I'm single y'know?" The cat said.

"Unlucky with the ladies?" Fox asked, smiling slightly. The cat shook his head.

"Unlucky with life. I... married a gorgeous woman few years ago." The cat sighed unexcitedly.

"Kids?"

"Nah, we divorced before we even decided to have kids, luckily..."

"Really? What happened?" Fox asked.

"Well, I started working in the cabs to pay for my wedding, and stayed here I spent many years with her, the most wonderful..." The cat stopped abruptly for a moment. Fox leaned forward slightly to see what happened with the man. He couldn't see the cat's face, so he looked through the mirror. The cat stared to the road in silence, expressionless. "... the most wonderful days of my life." He continued on.

"Sounds like you were happy back the... " Fox said. The cat sighed.

"Yeah, I was back then." He huffed. "Anyway, one day one of my partners accidentally crashed his cab and got severely wounded. I was allowed to go with him to the hospital, since we were both close friends, and the syndicate knew it." The cat said. "When he was intervened, I was forced to leave him there, and my boss gave me the rest of the day free."

"I'm starting to have an idea of what happened." Fox said and laid back.

"Yeah, when I arrived at my house, guess what I found?"

"Your woman with another man." Fox replied.

"Yup." The cat said. "I found the two hogs having a _wrestling match_ on the table of the kitchen."

"Geez, and what did you do?" Fox asked.

"Oh, something that did cost me six months in jail." The cat sighed. "Don't get me wrong, my ex-wife was unharmed, but, the other guy... well, I gave him the beat up of his life." The cat chuckled.

"He deserved it." Fox nodded.

"Yeah, and you won't believe me when I tell you who he was..." The cat grinned.

"Who?"

"Neither more nor less than the infamous Panther Caroso." The cat said in a prideful tone. Fox's eyes widened.

"You're kidding, right?" He asked with skepticism.

"I told you you wouldn't believe me." The cat chuckled.

"For real?" Fox asked, still skeptic.

"Of course! Why would I lie about something like that?" The cat said.

"Heh, wow man." Fox said. "That's just funny. Out of all the guys she could have cheated on you with, it was Panther huh?" He said.

"Yeah... funny huh?" The cat said. "But he received what he deserved, I assure you." He smiled.

"How?" Fox asked with curiosity. "I mean, he's a huge man, and a dangerous ex-criminal."

"Oh I know, but I wasn't like this back then." The cat said and patted his belly. "I was a total athlete in my times, big enough to give that pussy a lesson." The cat chuckled.

"And why are you not anymore?" Fox asked.

"Well, let's just say, I lost the motivation to keep myself at shape..." The cat sighed. "And since that day, I've been living alone... well, not completely alone, but with my brother."

"You moved with your brother?"

The cat shook his head. "He moved with me."

"How's that?"

"Well, I doubt you knew this but he fought in the Lylat War. When they war finished, he retired from the army. Some time later, I found him drinking like a fish in a nasty bar, and I took him to my home. He's been living with me since then..." The cat sighed.

"How considerate of you to accept him." Fox nodded.

"Well, it keeps me from falling into depression, y'know? I mean, he's always there for me, and I really appreciate his company."

"Yeah..." Fox sighed and nodded.

"And you mister Fox?" The cat asked and glanced at Fox through the mirror.

"Me what?" Fox asked.

"Do you have someone to keep you accompanied?"

Fox shook his head. "No, I'm completely alone "

"Really? And what do you do?"

"Nothing, just, spend my money in alcohol." Fox sighed. Something he wasn't proud of, but he hadn't the spirits to do anything else...

"Too much drink is bad Mister Fox." The cat said. "I know from experience."

Fox just hummed. "And how's your ex-wife doing now?" He asked.

"I don't know and I don't wanna know, that traitorous b*tch could be dead for all I care..." The cat scowled while shaking his head.

"Wow, seems like you hate her..." Fox said.

"I do..." The cat hissed. "After all I gave to her, all the things I did for her... how could she be able to betray me?" He growled.

Fox stared at the man. That sounded a little too familiar. "And, didn't the idea of a second chance come across your mind?" Fox asked.

"A second chance for her? Never!" The cat grunted.

"Why not?" Fox asked. The cat shook his head.

"There's no way I could ever trust again in someone that has betrayed me once. Because if they could betray you once, they surely can do it again. If they proved once that they could harm you, there's no way I can trust them not to do so again, can I? There's no way, not a single way..." The cat said. "Betrayal destroys the trust, forever..."

Fox stared at the cat, who only kept his gaze on the road. He had heard every word that he said, and they echoed in his mind constantly.

"So, mister Fox?" The cat said.

"So what?"

"I told you about my past life, what about yours?"

"There's nothing left from my past life." Fox sighed.

"What about mister Lombardi, or that green guy?"

"I haven't heard a word neither from nor about Slippy since months ago." Fox said. "Falco, hmm, he must be around there, I haven't heard anything from him since our separation." He said. "And Peppy..."

"Ah, general Peppy Hare, right?" The cat asked.

"Yeah, him. We stopped having contact since a long time ago, he's too busy now to deal with anyone, even with his daughter..."

"I see... and what about Krystal?" The cat asked.

Fox stared at the man. "I already told you that I don't know..."

"But, what do you think?"

"About what?"

"About her man! What would you say if you'd met with her again?" The cat asked.

Fox huffed and gazed outside the window. "I don't know." He sighed. The cat stared at him. Fox shook his head smoothly, while looking down at the floor with troubled eyes. "I think if I ever see her again, I would avoid her... I would avoid any contact with her..."

"But why?" The cat asked.

"I don't know, I'd just avoid her..." Fox shook his head. "Maybe because, well, since what happened, things would be awkward between us..." He sighed.

"You won't know until the moment comes." The cat said.

"I don't want that moment to come..." Fox shook his head.

"Why? Do you hate her?" The cat asked.

Fox shook his head. "No... I could never hate her..." He said. "I just don't wanna see her again, that's all."

Inside himself, he thought that would be the best. He couldn't be able to see her again without remembering her betrayal, her glare, and the way she rejected him and used him like a simple tissue. It would be just too much painful.

The cat stared at Fox through the mirror. That man had been through a lot of battles, fights, he had risked his life so many times, he had been wounded on so many places, so many times, and yet he always recovered, and was always ready to risk his life again. But now, now he hadn't strength for anything, mood for anything, he was destroyed. It was odd to see such a tough man, beaten by a wound that wasn't even physical. It was sad, sad indeed.

"I'm really sorry mister Fox..." The cat said. Fox waved his hand.

"Don't worry, it's all in the past."

All in the past. That's what he said. But he certainly wasn't living the present. He was still sorrowed by the past, haunted. The driver wanted to help him, but he just couldn't. There wasn't anything he could do. He could just hope that he would get over it. It would be sad to hear about the suicide of a beloved hero. That idea scared him the most. Fox McCloud committing suicide. He hoped that idea stayed just in his mind.

Finally, the car reached its destination. "Here we are mister Fox." The cat said as he parked his cab beside a tall building of the small neighborhood. Fox stepped out of the cab and walked to the frontal-right window.

"How much is it?" he asked.

"Three credits mister Fox." The cat replied.

"Here, keep the change..." Fox said and handed him five credits. The cat smiled and saved the paper in his pocket.

"Thanks mister Fox, it was nice to meet you."

"The pleasure was all mine, mister...?"

"Charles, Charles Barkley." The cat replied.

"Okay chuck, thanks for the ride, see you later..." Fox said and waved his hand. Chuck started his car and took off from the place. Fox sighed and entered the building. It was a ten-floor tall building. Fox lived in an apartment, at the fifth floor. He walked up the stairs, reached his door, slid the keycard through the reader to the left and entered. The apartment was small. It consisted only of a small kitchen, a small living room, a door leading to the bathroom, a balcony and a bedroom. He tossed his card on the table of the living room and walked towards his bedroom. Once inside, he took off his boots and left himself fall on the mattress. Lately his life has been a total mess. Six months living alone, he was starting to go crazy. He had no one, nothing to live for. He was just another useless drunkard in the society. And there he was. Lying belly-down on his bed. Smelling like alcohol, sweat and dirt, drunken. He was useless. He hadn't any purpose in his life. Nothing to live for.

Fox's eyes shot wide open. A idea had just crossed through his mind. He had been having that idea since a long time, but he always ignored it. But lately, that small idea had been gaining terrain in his mind. He fought hard to get it off his mind, but it always returned.

He growled and closed his eyes, trying to sleep, and trying to forget that stupid idea.

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X

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Corneria city, 2:37 am.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit!" A gray cat sprinted across a darkened and desolated street, panting curses under his breath. He was wearing a pajama suit, and the slippers* didn't help him much in his runaway, as well as his fat body. He glanced over his shoulder while running from time to time, and each time he did that, his eyes widened in horror and he continued running. Behind him, at scarce ten meters from him, a dark figure chased him with eagerness. He had been running for a good ten minutes now, and was exhausted. However, whoever was chasing him, he or she didn't seem passed by the run. The shadow kept behind him at every moment, and was starting to get closer.

"Damnit!" The cat shouted. He saw the entrance to a dark alley at the side of a building. Thinking that it may prove a good escape way, he turned and entered it. The shadow mimicked his motion and followed him inside the alley. The man did not look behind him anymore. He was sure his stalker was behind him. He could hear his or her footsteps making splashing sounds on the ponds of the alley. A disaster happened. He bumped into a trash can and stumbled down. He fell with a loud thud. He took a crawling position, trying to get in his feet. However, he was kicked down again before he could. The cat rolled over and ended on his back, looking with utter terror at his stalker. The shadows didn't show her very well, but he could tell it was a female. A female fox. A blue female fox. He started dragging himself backwards. The vixen walked following him.

"Stop that." She growled. She drew out a blaster pistol and aimed it at the cat's head. The man stopped his motions in shock, and glanced at the pistol's cannon on his forehead.

"Oh, oh god, please don't do this!" The man begged. The vixen could notice the suppressed crying in his voice tone. She ignored it completely.

"Sorry, it's nothing personal..." She said as she pressed the blaster's trigged and kept it down. A mass amount of energy started accumulating inside the pistol, and the man could notice it through the pistol's cannon.

"Look, I don't know how much they're paying you for this, but I can double the amount, just tell me!" The man stammered. The vixen shook her head.

"Sorry, but that's against my code..." The vixen replied.

"Code? Don't come to me with that bullshit!" The man laughed nervously. "I'm sure we can come to an deal!"

"Sorry but I'm loyal to my clients..." The vixen said coldly.

"Really? Hm, it would have been good to met you in different circumstances..." The man said fearfully.

"Maybe..." The vixen tilted her head left.

"You could have been one of my best hitmen, being paid generously for lifetime..."

"Sounds good..." The vixen nodded.

The man smiled and licked his teeth. He was certain he had caught her attention. "You think so? Well, you're still in time to accept my offer." The man said. "What do you say?". The vixen kept silent for a few seconds.

"Good nights mister Kamov..." The vixen said coldly.

"NO! WAI-" The vixen released the trigger. In less than a second the cat's head disappeared. All that was left in the head's place was smoke. The headless body fell limp on the floor. A moment after blood began to flood out from the opening on it's neck. The vixen sighed and lowered her blaster. She turned back and walked away, returning to her current hideout. A luxurious suite in one of the best hotels in the city. She had to walk all the way. She had lost her transport, an hoverbike, while trying to take out that man. Sergei Kamov, one of the most feared crime lords of the city. She'd paid him a visit while he slept at his mansion. However, his security detected her, and gave him a chance for getaway. She immediately ran after him, not before making sure that no one would go after them by throwing a pair of bombs into the house.

The vixen hummed. By now the house must be already surrounded by firefighters and policemen. She'd also destroyed her bike to make sure that they couldn't track her down. And so she was now there. She reached her hotel. She walked in and past the reception counter, towards the elevator. The receptionist saw her entering.

"So you're back, Miss Kursed." The receptionist, an old German Sheppard, greeted. Kursed glanced at him.

"Yeah." She replied.

"How were you businesses?" The man asked.

"Good."

The man noticed that she wasn't in any mood for talking. It didn't surprise him. She hadn't been any sociable since the first day she came to the hotel, about a week ago.

"That's good to hear. Have a good night..." The man said when the elevator reached down. Kursed didn't say anything and just stepped inside the elevator. "Grump..." The man muttered.

Kursed waited patiently until the elevator reached the 30 floor. She stepped out from it and walked up the corridor, towards the door labeled 612. She slid a keycard on the card reader on the left of the wall. The door opened and she walked inside. The suite was really luxurious. It had a relatively big kitchen with a bar, a small living room with a plasma TV, a balcony, a bathroom with a hot tub and a Jacuzzi, and a huge bedroom. She had been staying here for a long week now. The stay cost was big, she would have ran out of money, have it not been because her client was paying her stay as part of her contract. He'd paid for a ten-day stay.

Kursed walked towards the sofa of the living room and let herself fall on it. She took out her cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?" A man answered from the other side of the line.

"Mister Oblask, this is Kursed."

"Ah, Miss Kursed, it's good to hear about you. So, is the work done?"

"Yes, it's done. Kamov's out of the game."

"Right on schedule, I really appreciate a punctual work."

"I don't work for appreciation..."

"Ah, of course not. I'll have the money deposited into your account right now."

"Good..."

"I like a well done job, Miss Kursed. I'll have your number at hand, for the next time when I need someone out."

"Very well." Kursed said and ended the call. She dropped her phone on the table beside the sofa, and sighed. She was exhausted. She decided to take a bath and go to sleep. So she stood up and walked inside the bathroom. She opened the tub's faucet and tested the water with her hand. "Mmm " The water was warm. She undressed herself and jumped in, letting her body sink slowly inside the tub, only her head out of the water. She sighed deeply. She hated her job. She hated it completely. She had to travel from planet to planet, looking for the worst scum in the galaxy, risking her life in the way. Surely, her past job was risky too. But it was better. It was better because she hadn't to do so many traveling. But over all things she wasn't alone. She had company. She had the best company she could ever wish for. They were always there for her. He was always there for her.

Kursed took a deep breath. Fox. He had been on her thoughts lately. She hated it. She hated to think about him. But she couldn't help. As much as she tried to forget him, she never could. She felt completely stupid. She was mad. She was mad, at everyone, at him, but over all things she was mad at herself. She hated herself. For all she had became. For all she did. Things hadn't to be this way. Things could have been better. It was all their fault. They used her. They used her to get what they wanted. And when they got it, they abandoned her. To her own luck. They betrayed her. He betrayed her. Panther. That man, who looked like a good man, a supportive man, who told her a thousand times that he loved her, finally turned away from her. That selfish idiot, who only talked about himself all the time. If only she hadn't been so selfish. So stubborn. So egocentric. He asked her to forgive him. Fox begged her to forgive him. He was sincere, he was desperate, he swallowed all his pride and humiliated himself before her, begging for her forgiveness. But no. She was too prideful to forgive him. She wanted to hurt him. Because of what he did. So she turned away from him, and left him alone, and even betrayed him in a worse way, using him for her own purposes. But it was all done. She had to accept the consequences of her actions. She was alone, she'd be alone for the rest of her life, because that's what she decided. That was her curse. That was the consequence of her actions, and she'd have to accept them, and live with them from now on.

Kursed lifted herself from the tub after a while of self cleaning. She didn't wrap a towel around her. She walked in the nude towards her bedroom, and let herself fall on the bed, soaking it with the water on her body. She wasn't in mood to get dressed. She wasn't in mood to dry herself. She wasn't in mood for anything. All she wanted was to sleep. She loved bed time. Because in bed time, she exited reality. All the world faded out, along with her problems. She rolled on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Fox..." She whispered. "If only I could see you one more time if only I could tell you, that I'm sorry..." But her wish was very unlikely to happen. Even if she happened to find him, he'd probably be too mad to listen to her. She covered herself with the blanket, rolled on the bed so he was on her side, and closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep.

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**That's it for the first chapter. What do you think? Let me know through a review!**

**This is the third revision so far. I think it's better.  
**


	2. Falling deeper

**Hey there guys! How have you all been? I hope you're doing okay. Anyway, here's the second chapter of the story. Thank you all who've shown interest in it so far. And there's something I have to say to Omi AKA The Wandering Maverick: Don't be hasty man! That was only the first chap! I know there's a lot of Kursed/Fox stories here, and that this one shares similarities with the other ones, but I promise you that this one's different enough to be interesting... I think. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one.

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Corneria city, 8:36 am.  
TOCK! TOCK! TOCK! TOCK! TOCK! TOCK! TOCK! Someone knocked frantically at the door of the apartment. Fox's ear twitched. It was an annoying knock. Whoever was at the other side of the door really wanted to be attended. The knock continued, this time for a longer time. Fox growled deep in his throat and slowly sat upright on the bed. He was a total mess. His eyes were bloodshot, his fur was bristled and his entire body ached. An unbearable pain stung his head. He hissed and massaged his temples. The knock continued, violently.

"WAIT A SEC!" Fox barked. The knock stopped. He sighed and got out from his bed.

"McCloud? McCloud! Open the door!" A female voice shouted from the other side of the door to his apartment.

"Oh, god " Fox hissed and rubbed his face with annoyance. It was Cynthia Jacobs, the old, fat, ugly, arrogant, annoying and grumpy raccoon, manager of the building. Fox walked towards his closet. He was wearing boxers only, so he took out a pair of black jeans and putted them on, then walked outside his bedroom and opened the door. He met face to face with the old raccoon, who gasped in surprise at the shirtless vulpine.

"What's this? Put on a shirt boy! Jesus Christ!" The old woman gasped. Fox huffed.

"What do you want Cynthia?" He yawned, frowning with sleepy eyes.

"Hey, careful with your manners, mister McCloud, you're speaking with an elder!" Cynthia frowned. Fox sighed in exasperation.

"What's it, Mrs. Jacobs?" Fox asked with feigned politeness.

Cynthia's expression became more serious. "Well, let's get to the point. You've been making me wait for your month-cover for too long, mister McCloud. That's been bothering me lately " she said and placed her hands on her fat hips.

Fox sighed. "I know, I already told you I've been out of money lately, but I promise I'll-"

"Liar!" The raccoon snapped. "You were drinking last night, I know it!"

Fox frowned. "What? Have you been spying on me or what?" He hissed.

Cynthia denied with her index finger. "I saw you when you arrived last night, you smelt like alcohol, and walked like an idiot!"

Fox narrowed his eyes. "I arrived late last night. Weren't you supposed to be asleep by that time?" He inquired as he leaned forward slightly.

"I was, but then I heard noises outside-"

"So you decided to gossip, uh?" Fox asked and crossed his arms.

"Naturally I went out to investigate " Cynthia shrugged. Fox rolled his eyes. "But that's beside the point! You lied to me and used money that could have been enough to pay for your month in bunch of alcohol sh*t!"

Fox tried to sound reasonable. "Mrs. Jacobs I'll-"

"No more 'I will' mister McCloud!" The raccoon snapped. "You've been delaying your rent's payment for three months now! I've waited enough! So you're OUT!" She scowled.

Fox's heart skipped a beat and his eyes shot wide-open. "Y-you gotta be kidding me " Fox stammered and pointed a finger at the old raccoon. She slapped the finger away and shook her head, smirking maliciously.

"I've got another client, ready to move in here " She said in a prideful manner, mocking at the fact that Fox was leaving. "You've got until today at 1 o'clock to oust this apartment" Cynthia pointed a menacing finger to Fox, and turned away.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Wait!" Fox ran behind the raccoon, rounded her and stopped in her way. "Please don't do this Cynthia, I've got nowhere to go!" Fox begged.

Cynthia placed her hands on her hips and shook her head slowly, looking at the vulpine with narrowed eyes. "You should have thought about that before spending your whole money on that sh*t you like to drink!" She growled.

"Yes I should have known that the fat old intrusive manager would go out to gossip before I arrived!" Fox scowled.

"Oh!" Cynthia snapped, offended. Fox laid his ears back and gritted his teeth in repent.

"Oh, no, Mrs. Jacobs I didn't mean to-"

"Enough of this mister McCloud!" The old raccoon raised a hand and hushed Fox. "I said my last word! If you're not out of that apartment by one at afternoon I'll ask security to kick you out!" She scowled and pushed Fox out of her way with all the strength an old woman like her could have. Fox was barely affected by her weak push, but he moved from her way on his own. Cynthia walked downstairs at an exasperatingly slow pace. Fox just watched her walk down them and sighed downheartedly when she had finally disappeared. He felt like a complete idiot. Mrs. Jacobs was right. He shouldn't have spent his money in alcohol, and have used it to pay for his month instead.

"Idiot!" Fox roared at himself and smacked his forehead.

"I heard that McCloud!" Fox heard Cynthia's voice coming from the stairs below.

Fox's body clenched in anger. "That wasn't for you Mrs. Jacobs!" He shouted apologetically.

"Go to hell!" Cynthia shouted back.

"GIAAAAARGHH!" Fox roared and smashed the wall to the left of the stairway.

"Shut the hell up!" Cynthia shouted from below.

Fox walked towards the stairway and roared. "Mind your own business you fat b*tch!"

"That was it McCloud!" Fox heard Cynthia's footsteps getting close up on the stairs. She peeked out from the corner leading to the stairs and glared at Fox. Fox laid his ears back. "You're leaving this place NOW! I'll call my client and tell him he can move here right now! So hurry up!" She shouted and returned downstairs.

Fox clenched his fists. He was SO screwed. Not only had all the money he had gathered in Star Fox vanished in alcohol, but now he hadn't nowhere to live and nowhere to go. Since the day he'd retired from the team (Which at that time only consisted of himself and ROB) he had placed the Great Fox II under the Cornerian Army's temporary jurisdiction. Since that wasn't the ship he'd inherited from his father, it meant to him nothing more than a huge metallic ship. The ship still belonged to him, he had only kind of leant it to the army for their own purposes, well in fact they had taken them from him because of his current civil state. But he didn't care anyway. He was sure they would find it a more useful future than it would had with him. ROB was included in the package, along with all the equipment and weaponry. So all he had left now, were his clothes. And that was all.

"Damn " Fox sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was experiencing one of the worst hungovers he could remember. It and it's stinging headache were surely guilty of Fox's careless compulsiveness at Mrs. Jacobs. He huffed resignedly and slowly walked back inside his apartment. If what Cynthia said was true, he'd better hurry up.

* * *

X

* * *

"Mrs. Jacobs!" A gray fox knocked at Cynthia apartment's door. "Mrs. Jacobs!" He repeated. Cynthia opened the door shortly after.

"Ah, mister Garcia, you're finally here " She smiled.

"Yes, I received your message, so, I'm ready to move here" Garcia said.

"Sure, follow me please " Cynthia asked Garcia and walked past him and up the stairs. Garcia followed beside her. "You don't know how grateful I am that the jerk of my previous guest's going to leave" Cynthia sighed with relief.

"Why? Was him that bad?" Garcia asked, frowning confusedly.

"Well, thinking about it, I kinda liked him for a time but he's a hard payer. And with all the cost of electric energy and water service, I can't allow any kind of retarding in my incomes" The old woman huffed.

"Oh, I see "

"By this time he must be already gone " Cynthia sighed. They continued their way upstairs until they reached the fifth floor. Cynthia frowned when she noticed that the door to Fox's ex-apartment was open. "That idiot! He left the door open!" She snapped. Garcia widened his eyes at the vocabulary of the old lady.

"I'm still here Cynthia " Both heard a voice coming from the apartment's inside.

"McCloud! I thought I told you to leave!" Cynthia scowled when she entered the apartment and saw Fox sitting on the small table of the kitchen, eating a bowl of chocolate cereal.

"I just wanted to have breakfast before I left " Fox hummed with his cheeks full of milk and chocolate flakes.

"Pig! Don't speak with a full mouth!" Cynthia snapped. Fox ignored her, swallowed and took another spoonful of his bowl. Cynthia narrowed her eyes and glared at the vulpine, who just sat there, unstartled. Garcia switched his sight from the old woman, to Fox, then again to Cynthia. "Leave this place NOW!" Cynthia roared.

"It's okay Mrs. Jacobs, let him have his breakfast " Garcia said solemnly to Cynthia. The old woman glanced at him. "I don't have a problem with it"

"Yeah, you can start settling up here, I already packed all my stuff, the place's empty " Fox hummed. Cynthia glared back at Fox, then looked back at Garcia.

"This is your place now mister Garcia, you know what you do with it and what kind of idiots-" She emphasized the word and tilted her head at Fox "- you let in here " She shrugged and walked out. That left the two foxes alone, in silence except from the noises Fox made when he chewed his cereal. Garcia tossed the bag he had over his shoulder on the couch of the small living room and left himself fall on it. He spreaded his arms on the couch's seat back, sighed and gazed at Fox.

"Such a charming lady, isn't she?" Garcia asked smiling. Fox just hm'ed and continued eating his cereal. Garcia licked his lips with uncertainness. "So, how long have you been living here?" He asked.

Fox took a moment to swallow his cereal. "Six months " He replied unexcitedly and took another spoonful of cereal inside his mouth.

"Really? And how do you qualify Mrs. Jacobs?" Garcia asked with curiosity.

Fox took another long moment to swallow his cereal. "She's a fat, ugly, annoying, intrusive, noisy and pestering woman " Fox said.

"Oh " Garcia said, nodding slowly and licking his cheeks from inside his mouth, a little worried because of how Fox had just described his new neighbor.

"Really, you can't have secrets with that woman. She's a total gossiper, so I wouldn't trust her anything if I were you " Fox said. "You can't hide anything from her neither, so I recommend you that anything that you need to keep as a secret, you better don't do it here "

"Like what?" Garcia asked.

"Like bringing women, hiding people, weapons-"

"You brought weapons here?" Garcia asked with a worried expression.

Fox nodded a couple times. "One day I brought an assault rifle - she called the police " Fox hummed and took another spoonful of cereal.

Garcia stared at Fox with fear. "And, w-what were you doing with an assault rifle?" He stammered nervously, fearing that Fox might be some kind of dangerous criminal or ex-convict.

"I brought it as a memento from my past job " Fox hummed.

"Your past job?" Garcia asked nervously. Fox nodded and continued chewing his cereal. "Oh " Garcia nodded slowly, staring at Fox with distrust. Fox raised his gaze to look at the man on the sofa. Garcia quickly switched his gaze to something else in the room, nervously.

"You know who I am?" Fox asked quietly.

Garcia's eyes shot wide-open. "No, I don't know " He replied nervously.

Fox smiled and pointed at a dark bag on a couch across from the sofa Garcia was seated on. "That's my bag " Fox said. "Open the smaller pocket and take out what's in it "

Garcia gulped. "I'd prefer not to do it " He replied nervously.

"C'mon, do it, there's nothing dangerous in it " Fox insisted.

Garcia licked his lips and leaned forward to reach for the bag. Be brought it to his lap and searched for the smaller pocket. When he found it, he opened it and began searching inside it with his hand. He found a small metallic object. He took it out and examined it eagerly. His eyes widened.

"Star Fox?" He grinned and looked at Fox with excitement. Fox just nodded solemnly. "Whew, now I understand the rifle thing " Garcia sighed with relief.

"Yeah I saw how you turned white when I told you about it " Fox smiled slightly. Garcia chuckled and smiled at Fox. Fox gave him a quick and slight smile and went back to his cereal.

Garcia's smile faded after a short while. "What happened to you mister McCloud?" He asked with a confused frown.

"Before, or after I became like this?" Fox asked and pointed at himself with the spoon.

"Before " Garcia replied after a short moment.

"Things " Fox sighed unexcitedly.

"What kind of things?" Garcia asked again.

Fox shook his head slowly. "Things I'd rather not to talk about " He sighed.

Garcia huffed disappointingly. He had only heard stories about this man. Fabulous stories about heroic exploits throughout the galaxy, that made him feel excited and curious to be in his presence. How much questions he had to ask. But Fox seemed to be in no mood to deal with admirers.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry about that " Garcia sighed.

"Why would you be? You did nothing wrong " Fox said. Garcia nodded.

"Well and after?"

Fox glanced at Garcia. "Well, after that, I retired from my job, and settled up here on Corneria. I had enough money to live my life without problems, but in the time between ten months ago and now, I wasted it all in cantinas along with the rent of this dirty place and many others " Fox frowned.

"How do you go along with people here?" Garcia asked with curiosity. Fox glanced at him.

"May I guess it that you think my life is like that of some famous idiot?" Fox asked. Garcia rolled his eyes around the room.

"Err, well, yeah is not it?" He asked. Fox shook his head slowly.

"It may look like it, Mr. Garcia " Fox hummed. "But don't get the wrong idea. People around the galaxy are a bunch of hypocrites. You save their lives once, then they'll love you for a week. Then, they'll forget you and won't give a damn about you. No one cares about soldiers. Even in a world full of so much conflicts, no one never cared "

"Oh, I never imagined that " Garcia said with a sense of downheartedness.

"Only very few people, who look at what I've done for them and do not forget it, really appreciates me" Fox added. "Very few people, people like my old friends... or people like you "

Garcia smiled at Fox. "And why do you think I appreciate you?" Garcia asked.

"Because I'm still here, talking, and you're still there, listening to me. Any other person would have gone to the bathroom, outside to 'get something', or invented any other ridicule excuse to slip away from my presence" Fox said. And he was right. Many people, mostly youths, always behaved at him with antipathy and indifference. Like he said, no one cared about soldiers, and some people even despised them. "Besides, you're one of the few people who have shown excitement to meet me"

"Heh, was it that obvious?" Garcia chuckled. Fox nodded once.

"Nevertheless, I've never cared for what they think about me. I've never worked for appreciation, just money " Fox hummed.

"I understand you. Appreciation doesn't feed your stomach, money does " Garcia smiled.

Fox smirked and nodded. It had been a while since he'd already finished his cereal. He washed the bowl, took the cereal box and saved them inside his bag, beside Garcia. He swapped it over his shoulder and stretched his hand at Garcia. Garcia took it and brightly shook it.

"It was a real pleasure to meet you, mister Garcia-"

"Jos , call me Jos " Garcia interrupted Fox.

"Okay Jos , it was nice to meet you"

"The pleasure was all mine, mister McCloud"

"If we ever meet again, please call me Fox" Fox said and ended the handshake.

"I'll keep that in mind " Jos said as he watched Fox walk towards the exit.

Fox stopped by the door frame and glanced back at Jos . "By the way, thanks for letting me have my last breakfast here" He said.

Jos waved his hand. "Don't mention it, I'd hate to be interrupted in the middle of breakfast too" He chuckled.

"As you say, goodbye Jos " Fox said and exited the place.

"Adios mister Fox!" Fox heard Garcia shout from behind. He smirked. 'Nice guy ' He thought. He walked all the way downstairs and met with Cynthia in the way. They exchanged deadly glares and continued their way. Fox grinned again. 'Only good thing's that I'll finally get away from that b*tch ' He thought to himself.

Finally Fox found himself outside the building, and took a dismissive look at it. Now that he was outside all content he could have gotten from his little talk with Jos was gone. He was back at reality. The crude reality, with nowhere to go, nowhere to stay, nothing to eat and no one to call his "friend". He had stopped trying to contact Peppy long ago. Every time he tried, he was told he was unavailable, busy, he had no time... the same story. So he had given up on that. He didn't knew the whereabouts of any of the others either, nor did he care. They didn't care for what might become of him before they left him, so why should he? His ship and equipment were under jurisdiction of the Cornerian Army, now that he wasn't a mercenary, he wasn't allowed the possession of massive warfare arsenal, only the officers of the Army were allowed, with special permission, but he wasn't interested in the Army. The ship still belonged to him, he just wasn't allowed to use it in his current civil state. So he had nothing more than what he had on the bag over his shoulder. He was alone and helpless, again, just like ten months ago.

"Not again Fox " Fox growled at himself and shook his head, as the same idea from yesterday at night struck his thoughts. He started walking. He didn't knew where he was going to. He didn't care either. He just started to walk, trying to get that idea off from his mind, again.

* * *

X

* * *

Corneria, 9:27 am.

A subtle ray of white light entered from the room's window and landed exactly on Kursed's eyes. She growled in annoyance and rolled to the opposite side. She opened her eyes slowly and glanced at the clock on the nightstand.

"9:27 " She purred and sat upright on the bed. She wiped the sleep from her turquoise eyes and gazed around the room. She took a deep and lazy breath, and jumped out of the bed. She was a total mess, her hair was a jungle and her fur was bristled and she felt like a battle cruiser had just crashed on her. She moaned slightly and walked inside the bathroom, looking for a waking-up shower. Maybe that's what she needed to feel better. She opened the faucet and let the scalding water run across her body. When she exited the shower, she felt awake, but not better. She still felt like crap. In mood for anything. She wasn't hungry. She thought about returning to bed. 'No ' she thought and shook her head. She wasn't going to spend the whole time like an animal in captivity. As much as she felt bad for what her life had became of, she needed to be strong and try to overcome it. That was another reason why she killed for money. It kept her mind away from her problems. But once an assignment was done, all came back. And she hated that.

She huffed and went to her closet to dress up. She decided to go out for a walk. She still had three more days on the hotel. She thought she could try to enjoy a little the city she had fallen in love with, the first time she came on board the Great Fox. She wasn't planning to leave Corneria, anyway. Now that she was unneeded, she could decide where to go. For now she'll stay here.

She dressed up on a pair of blue jeans, white tennis, a white tank-top and a blue denim jacket and exited the hotel. Once outside, something came to her mind. She was in a lack of transport. Maybe she should go an buy a new hoverbike. She took route towards the mall.

Kursed looked up at the tall skyscraper that came out in the distance. She was standing in the middle of the sidewalk, waiting for a taxi to show up. A while after she distinguished one coming her way. She whistled and signaled it to stop by. The driver parked just in front of her. She opened one of the back doors and entered it.

"Where may I take you to, young lady?" The driver, a white cat, asked politely.

"Great Mall, please " Kursed replied with indifference. The driver nodded and started driving towards the given destination. During the trip, the driver couldn't help but notice how downhearted the woman on the back was. She was leaned against the right door, gazing outside the window with a face that resembled sleepiness.

"Something wrong lady?" The driver asked.

"What?" Kursed asked. She had been dreaming awake and the driver had just woken her up.

"I asked if there was something wrong " The cat said again. Kursed huffed.

"What's it to you?" She said with a sense of annoyance. The driver laid his ears back sadly.

"Uh... sorry, miss, I didn't mean to be intrusive. I won't bother you again " The driver said gently and switched his concentration on the road.

Kursed perked her ears up and stared at the man. This was the first time in a long time someone had saddened because of her manners. Normally people got angry. She sighed and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, mister " She sighed.

"What?" The driver asked confusedly.

"I didn't mean to be rude " She said.

"Oh no, don't worry miss, it's okay " The driver said.

"It's just that, there's been a lot in my mind lately " Kursed sighed and gazed outside the window. The driver looked at her trough the mirror.

"Something bad happened?"

Kursed took a deep breath. "You could say that " She replied. "I made a terrible mistake "

"Well, everyone makes mistakes, miss" The driver shrugged.

"Yeah, but I made a very terrible mistake " Kursed said.

"It can't be that bad " The driver said and tilted his head.

"Yes it can" Kursed nodded.

"How?"

Kursed kept silent for a while. "I I betrayed someone I loved " She sighed.

The driver took a glance at her through the mirror. "Have you asked that person to pardon you?" He asked. Kursed shook her head.

"I never had the chance " She sighed. "And even if I had it, he'd probably be too mad to listen to me "

The driver raised his eyebrows. "Was it that bad?" He asked. Kursed nodded slowly. "Well, and how are you so sure that he won't listen to you?"

"Well, I'm not sure " Kursed hummed.

"There you go! You should try it!" The driver said in a cheerful tone. Kursed hung her head downheartedly and sighed deeply. This threw the cat's mood to the floor.

" Even if he would listen to me, I don't know where he is " Kursed said sadly. "I don't know what was of him, I don't know where he went or what he did since I got away from him it has been ten months now "

The driver bit his lip. "Well, I'm really sorry, miss. I hope you can get over it someday, or find that special someone " He said. Kursed glanced at him. She smiled slightly.

"Thanks..." She sighed. The driver smiled back at her through the mirror.

"Don't mention it" He said smiling.

"What's your name?" Kursed asked.

"Charles Barkley" The cat replied. "But you can call me Chuck if you like".

"Mine's Kursed-"

"Kursed?" Chuck asked with a frown. Kursed opened her mouth slightly. "I don't mean to be rude, but that's an ugly name for such a beautiful lady" He said while shaking his head. "Why did your parents name you like that?"

Kursed bit her lip. Her name was just a nickname to go by in her dark work. Still, no one could know her true name. It was too dangerous. "They didn't" Kursed replied.

"Uh?"

"I chose it for me..." She sighed. She saw Chuck's expression become more confused.

"Why?" He asked.

"Well, it's a long story, I would rather not to talk about it..." She said quietly.

Chuck licked his cheeks from the inside. This woman must have gone through a lot, to feel like naming herself 'Kursed'. He decided, however, that it might be better to drop the subject. She seemed very affected by whatever happened. So he decided to don't dig deeper.

A short while after they reached the mall. Kursed exited the cab, not before paying for the travel and dismissing from Chuck, who had been one of the very, very few people that she had found likable. Once the cab drove away, she glanced at the entrance of the huge mall. 'This place' She thought, gazing everywhere over the place. 'This is where Fox took me shopping the first time I came to Corneria...'. The place brought some warm and happy memories to the vixen. A slight smile crossed her lips. She, Fox, all the stores, the excitement she felt that day, the way Fox sighed disappointingly when she spent an eternity proving one outfit just to decide that she didn't like it, his blush when she'd modeled a tight bikini for him at one of the stores. However, it didn't last long before it completely disappeared. The happy memories were replaced by sadder and darker, hurtful memories.

Kursed shook those thoughts off from her mind and focused on what she had came for. A new hoverbike. She walked inside the mall casually.

* * *

**There's the second chapter fellas. I sincerely thank you all who have shown interest in my story. I'll try my hardest not to disappoint you guys, I promise. Also, there's something I want to say. I really appreciate you all for the heads-up about my errors. If you take a look at my profile, you'll see English's not my first language. However, that's not exactly what I meant when I asked you to point out my errors. I'm not trying to be exigent, but it'd be excessively kind of you to tell me what my errors were. Otherwise I only know I have an error and stay guessing what it could be. I'm not asking anyone to do anything. Just saying.**


	3. So close!

**Hey guys, how are you all? Hope you're all okay! Well, here's the third chapter fellas, let's see how you react to what's here. By the way, my apologies to Omi AKA Wandering Maverick, sorry if I offended you dude, I didn't mean to, I really thank you for the chance you've given to my story. Ok, This was one of the most fun chapters to write (So far), but I'm 90% sure it has errors, so if someone would take the bothering to point out at least one, I'd be really grateful. Anyway, I hope you all like it.**

* * *

Fox walked along the sidewalk at a slow pace. The apartments building he had been living in until today was still visible if he happened to turn back. But he wasn't willing to do. The only thing he wanted now, was to get as far as possible from that damned place, that damned old raccoon and her damned mood.

But, what now? He asked himself. He didn't knew the answer. It was despairing. It was frustrating. It was saddening and horrible, to don't have anything. He felt lost, completely lost, not in the city, nor the planet, not even in the galaxy or universe, but in life. Completely lost in life. Lost in life. Well, if he was lost in life, what could he do to solve that? What could he do not to be lost in life? Well, if he couldn't find his way, his meaning in life, then, the only way to end his despair, was to destroy the maze he was lost in. To destroy life. His life. To him, that was the only exit, to destroy his own life. And despite he had been thinking about that for a long while now – more precisely since the day Krystal betrayed him –, he was very ashamed of himself, and of what his mind had thrown at him. To end his own life. What a barbarity. Right now he couldn't affirm he wouldn't do it, nor that he would do it, but he hated the thought anyway.

'_C'mon Fox, you're better than that…_' Was what he always told himself, when he started considering the idea. And that was the only thing that kept him from falling deeper into that thought.

He didn't worry about what other people would say, since nobody gave a damn about him to this point. But the main reason that kept him from falling in it, was the regard of his father. His father, the great James McCloud. What would he say? What would he think? He wouldn't approve that. He would be sad. He died protecting the galaxy. Why would Fox want to die in such a dishonorable way?

With that, Fox struggled once again to forget that cursed idea and focused on his new but still meaningless, useless and worthless future. First of all, he needed refuge and food. And that couple things wouldn't come to him on their own. He would have to fight for them.

The first idea that reached his mind was to work for it. It shouldn't be too hard to find someone who could provide him with the basics in exchange of some hard work.

Ugh, hard work. That was the only thing that bothered him. Those kind of places usually asked for overwhelming work before giving you a place to sleep and something to pass through your throat. Still, it wasn't anything he couldn't take, he had grown used to hard work. But where to start? Hmm, maybe the docks. He could ask for a place on board some crappy tanker. That would be it. He could work on the tanker doing some kind of cleaning or carrying job and-

"Outta the way!" Fox heard a scream, and the beeping of some vehicle's claxon. He turned his head at the source of the noise and saw a hoverbike coming his way at a high speed. His eyes shot wide open and in reflex he jumped out of it's way, barely evading the bike. He had been so submerged in his mind that he didn't check the sides of the street before crossing it, therefore almost being trampled by that hoverbike.

"Watch out you moron!" The driver of the bike shouted at Fox. Fox just watched the woman on the bike, blue jeans, denim jacket, white tennis and black helmet, getting farther each second.

* * *

X

* * *

"Idiot…" Kursed muttered and turned her gaze back at the road. She took a right at a corner and disappeared from Fox's sight.

* * *

X

* * *

Fox stared at the corner which the driver of the hoverbike took a turn at, frowning confusedly. He could swear the driver of the hoverbike had a blue tail. But, how could that be possible? How many people in the galaxy had blue fur? Not many, that was for sure. But then again, how many chances were there that that woman was… Krystal? Not many, either. She'd disappeared from the world nine months ago.

Fox shook his head. It was a bad thing to be hopeful. That woman could have dyed her fur for all he knew, so anyone could have blue fur. So he shrugged the topic off and took route towards the docks.

* * *

X

* * *

"Ah, there it is…" Kursed said, looking at the not very tall apartments building. She parked her hoverbike in front of it, turned it off, placed the helmet on the seat and walked towards the building. She entered it, and gazed around. It wasn't ugly, in any way. It wasn't too fancy, either, just, regular. There was a stairway just in front of her, and a couple doors to both sides of the stairway. A letter board on a door called out her attention.

"Cynthia Jacobs, Manager" It said.

Kursed walked up to the door and knocked on it. She waited for a few seconds. No one answered. She grunted and knocked again.

"I'm on my way!" An old woman shouted from the other side.

"Okay!" Kursed replied, sighed and leaned herself on the wall to the left of the door. A while after, the door opened and an old female raccoon walked out. She gazed around, looking for whoever had called her out, and then she saw Kursed, who was looking at her at the same time. "Cynthia Jacobs?"

"Yes. May I help you?" The raccoon asked.

"Oh, yes, I, um, I want to rent an apartment" Kursed said.

"Oh… wait a second…" the old woman said and entered back through the door. Kursed sighed and leaned against the wall again. Another long while after the raccoon came out, with a notebook on her hand. "Hmm… yes, I've got a single-bedroom one available..." The raccoon said, staring at her notebook. "Because it's you alone, isn't it?".

"Yes" Kursed replied. "How much is the month?"

"Oh, we'll discuss that as soon as you tell me when are you ready to move in…"

"Well, I'm currently living in an hotel, but I only have three days left, so… I'd say in three days"

"Very well, then you come here on Friday and-"

"Friday?" Kursed frowned.

"Yes, three days from now…" Cynthia said.

"But, today's Saturday…"

"Oh, really? It must be the age…" Cynthia chuckled. Kursed rolled her eyes. "Well, then… Tuesday, right?"

"Yes…" Kursed replied. "Can I have a look at the apartment?"

"Oh, sure!" Cynthia replied. She entered the door again and came out with a key on her hand. "Here…" She said as she handed the key to Kursed. "It's in the fifth floor, door label 9…"

"Okay" Kursed nodded and walked upstairs. When she reached the fifth floor, she started looking for the label 9 door. She found it immediately, just next to another apartment with the door open. She ignored the open door and entered the 9 door. She gazed around the apartment. It was small, but comfortable-looking. It had a kitchen with a bar, a small living room, a bathroom, a bedroom and a small balcony. The bedroom already had a bed, and the living room had a sofa and a couch, and the kitchen was equipped with a small fridge and a stove. Probably this increased the cost of the month, but at least she wouldn't have to buy anything. Buying furniture would be a problem since she lived in the constant move from planet to planet and she couldn't carry them on her Cloudrunner.

_'Looks like a fine place'_ Kursed thought, smiling.

When she was done exploring the place, she exited it and closed the door, and walked her way back to the first floor. While she walked downstairs, she crossed ways with a seemingly exhausted gray fox. He was panting and walked upstairs at a slow pace, helping himself with the rails. He raised his gaze and his eyes met with Kursed's. He smiled, still panting. Kursed returned a slighter smile. Then, she switched her gaze to the fox's hand. He was holding something that looked quite familiar. She narrowed her eyes and stared at it. When the fox walked past her, she could clearly see what it was. It was… the Star Fox's emblem?!

"But what the-?! Hey!" Kursed snapped at the gray fox. He leaped in surprise and glanced at her.

"What?!" He asked worryingly.

"Where'd you get that from?!" Kursed exclaimed, pointing at the medal. The fox raised the medal.

"This thing?" He asked.

"Yes, where'd you get it from?!"

"Could you calm down, please?!" The fox scowled. Kursed was about to snap at the fox again, but she realized it wasn't any way to treat people, so she tried to relax. It was hard, though, she was exalted, excited, surprised and confused. She hadn't seen that logo since ten months ago, and the only way this man could have gotten it was from one of the Star Fox's members himself. Not her, of course.

"Sorry…" Kursed said apologetically. The fox huffed.

"No problem…" He sighed. "You wanted to know where'd I get this from?"

"Yes, yes I must know where did you get it from!" Kursed said exaltedly. The fox grinned.

"You'll never believe me this… Fox McCloud himself gave it to me!" The fox chuckled. Kursed's eyes shot wide open.

"Fox McCloud?!"

"Well, in theory, he didn't gave it to me… I, forgot to return this to him…"

"You met with Fox McCloud?!" Kursed exclaimed.

"Yeah! Can you believe it? I just met with him!". Kursed's eyes doubled in size.

"When?! WHEN?!" She ran towards the fox and stopped with her face just a few centimeters away from the fox's and a maniacal expression. The fox stepped back untruthfully and stared at the crazy vixen.

"Just a few minutes ago! I just moved into the apartment he was living in and I met with him just before he left! He showed me this and I never returned it to him. I thought I could catch up with him to return it to him!"

"And?! Could you?!"

The fox raised the medal again, and one of his eyebrows. "What do you think?"

Kursed's heart was beating frantically fast. "Maybe I can! Which way did he go?!" Kursed asked eagerly and grabbed the man's shoulder and shook them.

"Gah! Right! He went right from the exit!" The man shouted. Kursed released him and ran downstairs at the fastest speed someone could ever run down a stairway. She jumped down over the last set of stairs and sprinted outside, past Cynthia, who was writing something on the notebook.

Cynthia gasped when the blue form rushed past her and outside the building. She distinguished it was the girl from earlier and ran towards the entrance.

"Hey! Do you still want the apartment?!" Cynthia shouted.

Kursed glanced over her shoulder as she ran. "Yeah! I'll come back in a while!" She shouted and continued running across the sidewalk.

"Okay!" Cynthia shouted back. "What a crazy woman…" She muttered and walked back inside her apartment.

Kursed stopped dryly on her way. How stupid of her, because of the huge excitement she forgot about the hoverbike! She ran back towards it, hopped on it, putted the helmet on and started the engine. Since it was new, it burst to life beautifully and without problems, and Kursed shoot herself across the street.

Damn, now what? She only knew Fox went to the right, but which way? There were left and right turns, and Fox were nowhere to be seen straight across the street. But to hell with that! Fox was just around five minutes ahead from her! That may not look like much, but for someone who she had longed to see for ten months, it was a very bright chance!

The plan? To round the block completely. The bike hissed as it hovered at great speed around the block. Kursed meanwhile was looking for Fox with her sight. Nothing. Then, take a left! She returned to the start point and rounded the block to the left. Again, nothing, just random people, random vehicles and random sh*t.

But of course! She could try to find him with her mind! She stopped the bike and concentrated herself. It couldn't be hard to find him, she knew pretty well his thought patterns. Let's see... Unknown, unknown, unknown... oh this is...! No, this is not him. Again. Unknown, unknown, unknown... Damn, this dirty dude's thinking about a porno! Leave his mind. Again. Not him, not him, not him... oh, oh, oh! This is him! He's there! That's him!

Kursed's face beamed with joy. She had found him! The brainwaves came from not too far from the northwest. She started the bike and drove through the traffic towards the familiar thought patterns. She drove carefully, but most of her attention was concentrated on the sidewalks. She was looking for a red fox. And since most of the Cornerian population consisted of dogs, it couldn't be too hard to spot him.

A bright idea: Ask pedestrians!

"Excuse me sir!" Kursed said as she stopped suddenly in front of a table outside a cafe local. The old bulldog seated on it, having a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper, quietly raised his gaze and locked sights with the vixen.

"Yes, young lady?"

"I'm looking for a red fox, have you seen him?"

"A red fox? Hmm, a fox with a black bag over his shoulder just happened to walk by here, he went that way..." The old man said and pointed to the left.

"Thanks!" Kursed exclaimed and took the route the old dog told her, around the corner.

ZOOM! ZOOM! ZOOM! ZOOM! Kursed drove skillfully through the rest of the traffic, the other cars just zoomed past her at great speed.

Dog, dog, cat, dog, raccoon, cat, dog, raccoon, raccoon, cat... Damn! Not a single red fox!

Kursed sighed as she saw the traffic light approaching. She should hurry up or stop before it turned red. Damn, she didn't consider the chance that Fox might have taken a turn around one of the many corners she drove past by. Damnit! She'd been so close! She got that for being so eager. Have she been a little more cold-headed she might have taken a look at the other streets instead of just driving frantically across the same street. Damn her luck! She was so stupid and now she wouldn't never- OH MY GOD THAT'S HIM!

Kursed's eyes shot wide open and her heart started racing. There, crossing the street ahead, at about fifteen meters away, a red fox with a bag over his shoulder. She checked the man's mind, and her heart almost turned over when she found out that man was indeed Fox.

"Oh my god FOX!!!" Krystal shouted. But the noises of the city muted her scream to Fox's ears. Still, she didn't mean to call him. It was just an excited scream. She wasn't going to interact with him until she were at least two meters close to him. So WHOOOOSH!!! She shot herself towards Fox.

The rest of the cars zoomed past Kursed in a blink. But she didn't notice. Her eyes were locked on the tall red fox to the other side of the street ahead, past an intersection. WHEEEEEEEEEEM!!! She accelerated. She started dreaming, just there, on her bike, about how their re-encounter would go.

_"Krystal, is that you?!"_

_"Fox!!"_

_"My god, I thought I would never see you again!"_

_"Oh Fox!!"_

_"Krystal, where have you been all this time?"_

_"Fox I'm sorry!"_

_"For what?"_

_"For all what I did to you! I'm so sorry!"_

_"Krystal it's okay, I forgive you..."_

_"Oh Fox, thank you so much..."_

_"You don't have to thank me... Krystal, I love you..."_

_"Fox... I, I love you too!"_

_"Krystal..."_

_"Fox..."_

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!!!

The illusion faded. The next thing Kursed knew, she was flying straight forward at a dangerous speed. She wasn't on the hoverbike anymore. The bike was behind, it had been violently stopped by that black car. However, Kursed didn't stop. She'd been shot forward from her hoverbike. And there she was, flying in the air at a great speed. Oh, crap, that store's window is getting uncomfortably close. Closer, and closer. Oh damn, she's going to crash on it. Damn...

And so did she. With another loud CRAAAAAAASHING sound, she penetrated through the window, and landed abruptly on the tables of the restaurant. People screamed and ran. She couldn't hear what they were talking about. Her head had hit the counter of the restaurant, violently. And although she was wearing a helmet, the impact still shook her head very violently, breaking the helmet's itself and dazing her pretty bad. Her vision started blurring. All she could see through her helmet's windshield were people, shouting and running, a man, kneeled beside her, his lips moving but she couldn't hear a word. Another man walked up to her. He looked so familiar...

* * *

X

* * *

_"-And that way I could live without problems... well at least until I do something stupid and get fired from the tanker..."_ Fox thought as he walked across the sidewalk. The bag over his shoulder was pretty light, it only had clothes inside. People walked past him, to and fro, across the same sidewalk. Hovercars on the streets, it was a populated city. He was at one of the most alive places of the city, with lots of people around, stores, restaurants, cafes, all kinds of locals everywhere... it was annoying. Right now all he wanted was to be at the least populated place, he wanted to be alone, alone with his thoughts, alone with his problems, alone with his sorrows, completely alone. But unless he could find a way to vaporize all people from the surface of the planet, he would be condemned to share existence with the rest of the world, and would have to get by it.

"Oh, damnit..." Fox muttered as he was about to walk to the sidewalk on the other side of the traffic light but then it turned red for pedestrians. Well, a minute of waiting didn't seem like so long...

He watched the hovercars pass zooming in front of him to both directions of the street. He started tapping the floor with his foot. He started feeling something strange. Like, someone was looking at him. It was an odd feeling, since there were lots of people around, and at least one of them could be looking at him. But this feeling... it was odd. Really odd. Oh, look at that, the light's green again! Let's cross the street now-

Fox's ear twitched. He could have sworn he heard a scream. But what with that? He was in the center of the city, there were lots of people screaming and shouting. So shrug it off and get going. He crossed the street, towards the other corner, where some kind of dinner local was. It had a big, rectangular window that let the clients see outside the local.

Oh, that man, the way he drinks his coffee... I want a coffee... crap, I don't have money. Get a work and come back later. Fox continued his way, past the entrance of the cafe, and just when he passed by it, exactly in the moment he walked past the door, CRASH!!!

"What in the name of-?!" Fox spun on his heels and looked back, all in less than a second. A black hovercar, stopped just in the middle of the intersection and a trampled hoverbike lying on the floor in front of it.

CRAAAAAAASH!!! Another noise called Fox's attention, this one coming from the cafe to his right. He glanced inside it and saw how some girl with a black helmet landed violently on the tables in front of the counter, and hit her head violently on the counter with a loud and painful hitting sound.

Fox shrugged painfully when he heard the hit. _"Owch, that's gotta hurt..." _He thought. Immediately a man ran towards her and knelt beside her, asking her if she was alright. The woman didn't move. Fox trotted towards her and stopped in front of her...

* * *

X

* * *

This man, this man is Fox! Oh, oh, he was there, in front of her! But, she couldn't speak, she couldn't hear anything, her vision was blurring...

"Fox..." Kursed whispered and lost consciousness.

* * *

X

* * *

Fox thought he heard some kind of choked sound, below the noisy screams of the people around him.

_"An ambulance! Call an ambulance"_

_"Yes, yes I'm on it!"_

_"Joe's Cafe, yes, yes in front of the Miller Plaza, yes, I don't know, hurry up!"_

Fox saw the man knelt beside the woman, trying to get her helmet off. "Don't do that!" Fox shouted.

The man was taken aback by the sudden exclamation and glanced at Fox. "Why not?!"

"She might have a broken neck, we better don't move anything until the paramedics come" Fox replied.

"Let's at least switch her to a better position..."

"Again, we better don't move anything..." Fox said. The man shrugged and straightened up, and walked away.

Fox looked over the woman. She was a total mess. Pieces of glass had pierced her fur, not too deep but still the wounds were visible. One thing called his attention. Her tail. It was blue. This was the woman who called him moron just a while ago. No rancors for her, though. What happened to her was more than enough punishment for just a rude word. His doubt about her identity was still alive, but the fact that she might have dyed her hair, and the fact that he wasn't sure if he wanted her to be _her_, really eliminated all interest he could have in the woman.

"Outta the way! Move! Move!" The paramedics entered rushing inside the local. Fox moved out from their way and let them do their work.

Fox decided that he had nothing to do there and turned back and walked away. He was about exit to the local, when he heard an unbuckling noise. He glanced over his shoulder and saw one of the paramedics put the black helmet aside. However, he couldn't see the woman's face, because the same paramedics who were treating her blocked his sight. Well, what was it to him, anyway? He'd better get away fast. In the moment police would arrive at the place, they would start taking people as witnesses, and he wasn't willing to do all that witnessing crap witnesses had to do, mostly because there were two harmed persons and two harmed vehicles and it would be a total mess for the incompetent authorities of the city. So walk away, walk away, yeah that's it, outside the local, yeah, you didn't see anything, away, yes, away, that's it, cross the street, yes, walk away, good idea, round the corner, uh-huh, away.

Good, the place of the accident is no longer visible if you look back. You got away, good.

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**And that's the third chapter fellas. Was it thrilling? How is it going so far? Tell me what you thought, I WANT to know. Think of reviews as fuel for the story, if there's no fuel, the story's not going to advance. So far I've received few but very satisfying reviews, and I want to keep receiving them! Reviews are appreciated, flames are despised, constructive criticism is thanked for.**** Thank you everyone who're following this story, I'll do my best not to disappoint you guys.**

**NO REVIEWS = NO UPDATES.  
**


	4. Loser

**Ok here's the fourth, fourth chapter lol my first fourth chapter, as senseless as that might sound. Yeah because if you remember I told you I had another story there that only reached the third chapter without any review and finally died, but I'm trailing off the topic. This was a not too inspiring chapter to write and it's short in comparison with the others. I'm really eager to write the posterior ones (I've got everything planned) but well, I had to write this one first. By the way, sorry for the delay, but as I said before I wasn't very inspired. But that doesn't mean you won't like it. But (To hell with the buts!) it's ultimately your opinion the one that matters.**

* * *

"Mmm…" Krystal purred when she woke up. She stretched herself on the bed and yawned loudly, with her eyes still closed. She was feeling really comfortable. The mattress was soft, the blankets were warm, the illumination of the room was subtly dark…

"Good morning…" Krystal heard a voice coming from a door to the left of the bed. It was Fox, who was leaned against the doorframe, smiling at Krystal with dreamy eyes.

Krystal smiled warmly. "Good morning…" She replied. Fox sighed and walked up to her, leaned in on her and kissed her, passionately. Krystal was a little surprised, but in matter of seconds she wrapped her arms around Fox's neck and returned the kiss. It lasted really long. Fox parted his lips from Krystal's and continued on her neck. Krystal placed her hand on Fox's nape, sighing and smiling. Fox slowly laid her down on the mattress while doing so and continued his job. A short while after he raised himself up, and locked his eyes with Krystal's. Krystal placed her hand on his cheek, caressing it gently.

"I love you Fox…" She hummed. Fox smiled, placed his hand on her cheek and caressed it the same way she was caressing his.

"Look, she's waking up…" He said.

"What?" Krystal chuckled. "Who's waking up?"

"Wait…" Fox said again, and then, all of a sudden, he started blurring. Krystal opened her eyes widely, and stared with confusion at Fox, while all her surroundings started blurring too. Few seconds later everything had vanished, and all she could see was white, a dazzling white. Then, the white started fading into black, and the black soon faded into a blurred image. A short while after the image became clear and she could see where she was, and who were with her. She was laid on some kind of bed, the room where she were was white and there was some guy dressed like a doctor beside her bed.

"Good, you're back…" The doctor, a black panther, smiled. "I'm doctor William Cooper"

Krystal was shocked and confused, and mostly disappointed. Had all that been a dream?

"How are you feeling?" The doctor asked.

"Uh… I don't know…" Krystal replied sleepily.

"Can you feel your limbs?"

Krystal moved her arms and legs a little. "Yes"

"Good" The doctor smiled. "Judging by the testimonials I heard, you got quite a hit"

There was a young fox behind the doctor. He had this worried expression on his face, with his hands closed in front of his muzzle. "Are you okay miss?" The fox asked worryingly.

"Uh… I think…" Krystal said. She was wearing a traction collar. "Who are you?" Krystal asked to the fox.

"Oh, I'm Edward Kane… I uh, I'm the owner of the black car you got hit by…" He said sadly. Krystal just stared at him, emotionless.

Krystal switched her sight to the doctor. "How much is this going to cost me?"

"Oh, nothing, mister Kane has already paid for all the service" The doctor smiled.

"Why?" Krystal asked Edward.

Edward drank saliva and started playing with his fingers. "It was nothing uh... but, please miss, don't sue me! My father will kill me if he hears this!" Edward begged.

"Oh… well, don't worry, I won't… just, repair my bike and we're good…" Krystal said and waved her hand.

"Oh, thanks miss!" Edward cried. "I'll buy you a new one!"

"You don't have to do that, just repair my old one…" Krystal was about to shake her head but she remembered her neck was broken and immobilized.

"Well, uh, I don't think your bike's in a repairable state…" Edward said ashamedly.

Krystal huffed. "Fine… just have it delivered at East Colton, 1880"

"Will do!" Edward said happily. "Could you give me your cell phone number?"

"Huh?" Krystal raised an eyebrow.

Edward stood quiet and silent for a moment, staring at Krystal, not understanding. "Oh, no! It's nothing like that! I just want it so I can contact you for anything that might happen…" Edward said moving his hands around.

"Oh… well, give me something to write it down…"

"Oh" Immediately the doctor offered her his writing board. "Use this…"

"Thanks…" Krystal said and wrote the number on the board. "Give me yours too"

"Fine…" Edward said and wrote his number, ripped off the piece of paper and handed it to Krystal. He walked towards the door and exited the room.

"Hm…" The doctor said when Edward was out. "What a funny guy, he was sure the accident was his fault…"

"And? Was it?" Krystal asked.

"You tell me! If you don't know, less do I…" The doctor chuckled. "By the way, what's your name? We haven't registered you 'cause you hadn't any ID when you had the accident"

"Oh I'm Krys…-" Krystal stopped dryly. She completely forgot. She wasn't Krystal anymore.

"Chris?" The doctor asked.

"No… I'm, Kursed…"

The doctor smiled nervously. "You have a curse casted upon you?" He chuckled slightly.

"No, my name is Kursed" Krystal said, slightly annoyed.

"Your name has been cursed?" The doctor frowned.

"No… I mean, literally, my name is Kursed…" Krystal said exasperatedly.

"Ok mistress, you're officially confusing me. Please spell your name…"

Krystal sighed. "K, U, R, S, E, D…"

The doctor wrote it down as Krystal spelled it. "Mm-hm, so, your name's Kursed?"

"Yes…" Krystal sighed.

"Heh, speaking of weird names…" The doctor hummed.

Krystal didn't say anything. She knew best, and aside from it, it was just a pseudonym. A pseudonym she was going to go by until the day she died.

"Ok, last name?" The doctor asked and raised his head.

"Uh, I, I don't have one…" Krystal said rolling her eyes around the room.

"Huh? how's that?" The doctor frowned.

"I… I, emancipated from my family…" Krystal lied. But now that she thought about it, it was just what she did. She had practically emancipated from her second family… the family that gave her a new life when she had nothing, and the one she had loved so much…

"And, well, didn't you get yourself a new one?" The doctor asked.

"No" Krystal replied.

"Well, what was your last known last name?"

"I'd rather not use it…"

"Okay... do you have family? Friends? Anyone who we can communicate your situation to?"

"No, I don't have any of those things…" Krystal said with a sense of sadness.

The doctor glanced at Krystal and narrowed his eyebrows. "Huh, sorry"

"No no, it's fine, I'm a lot better alone, really…" Though it wasn't true, she didn't want the doctor to feel bad.

"Okay, I think I guess it'll be fine if we don't register your last name then…" The doctor said.

"What happened to me?" Krystal asked.

"You don't remember anything?" The doctor asked.

"Well, I remember I was on my bike, then I was flying… then I crashed through this window and inside some local…" Krystal stopped. Fox. She had seen Fox there. He'd been standing in front of her. She had been so close to him! She had been so close! But in the end, he got away. She was so frustrated. She had scratched the chance, but still it got away. And now, she had no idea where he was... again.

"Doctor, did anyone else aside from mister Kane come here?" Krystal asked.

"Like who?" The doctor narrowed his eyebrows.

"I don't know… say, a red fox?"

"A red fox? Hmm, well, the paramedics reported that there was a fox at the place who they wanted to interrogate about the accident. But they said he disappeared from the scene, they were going to ask him something and he wasn't there anymore…"

Krystal's ears fell down. "Crap…" She whispered.

"You say something miss?"

"What? Oh, nothing… when can I leave?"

"Well, how are you feeling right now?"

"I already told you I'm fine…"

"If that's so, then I'd say you can leave past tomorrow… you only got a few cuts with glass shards and that bruised neck bone… fortunately the spine wasn't damaged, so we only have to wait until the bruise heals…" The doctor said. "The fact that you landed on plastic tables also helped the fact that you didn't get any other bruises… just some minor physic traumas, but nothing serious…"

Krystal huffed. "Fine…"

"For now, you have to get some rest…" The doctor said as he walked towards the door. "I'll come by to check you later…" He said and exited the room, leaving Krystal alone.

Krystal stared into the ceiling. She was so angry with herself. "_Stupid me!_" She thought and grasped the blankets of the bed with anger. "_I can't believe it... he was right there, in front of me, and I didn't say anything..._" She hadn't called him out in his mind because she'd not been sure how he might react, because of what she did to him, and she only wanted to talk to him in person. But now that she thought about it, calling him out telepathically would have changed the results.

But now there was nothing left to do. She closed her eyes with frustration and tried not to think about that anymore, it had not any sense now...

* * *

X

* * *

Northern Docks, 7:31 pm.

…

"Man, I don't know…" The old raccoon said while shaking his head.

"Oh c'mon, trust me, I'm quite experienced…" Fox tried to convince the raccoon.

The two were just outside a storage building in a loading zone for the vessels that traveled from isle to isle transporting variety of goods. There were people walking from here to there carrying boxes, giving instructions, driving loader vehicles. Fox had been trying to convince the captain of the Sea Ranger, Raymond Miller, to hire him as part of his crew. Preferably as part of the security body.

"Yeah mister McCloud I don't doubt yer skill, but-"

"But what? Look mister Miller I really need this job, I've nowhere else to go, nowhere to stay…" Fox begged.

Miller stood pensive for a moment. "Look, how much are ya asking for? Monetarily talkin'"

"Enough to live" Fox replied immediately. "Mainly I want a place to stay..."

"Ya know yer not going to live in my ship all the time, don't ya?"

"Of course mister Miller... but I trust that my payoff will be enough to rent a place to stay while we're not oversea..."

Miller sighed. "Fine. I'll hire ya just because we've been robbed thrice the last two years, and the losses are extremely severe. Ya'll sure come in handy, if what they say about ya is true…" Miller said.

Fox smiled relieved. "Trust me mister Miller, no one has ever lied about me…"

"Then welcome to the Sea Ranger mister McCloud…" Miller said and stretched his hand to Fox. Fox took it and shook it brightly.

"Thank you mister Miller, you've no idea how much of a favor you're doing to me…" Fox smiled.

"Only thing I've got to warn ya about is the crew"

"What's wrong with the crew?" Fox frowned.

"They can be too rough with newbies at times, so be careful around them..." Miller said and gave Fox an 'I'm serious' stare.

Fox smirked. "Don't worry mister Miller, I know how to deal with this kind of people... hell I do"

"Fine then, we set sail in a while..." Miller looked at his watch. "Hmm... eight o'clock, in thirty minutes, so if ye have something to do here on ground, do it quickly"

Fox shook his head. "Nah... as I told you before, I've nothing to do here"

"Ok, then follow me onboard, and from now on, I'm Captain Miller for ya McCloud..." Miller said and jerked his head to the left.

"As you say... captain..." Fox felt somewhat strange. He got used to being called 'Captain', not to call someone else 'Captain'. Well, what could he do anyway? Guess he'd have to get used to call someone else 'Captain'.

Fox followed the old raccoon through the not to crowded docks towards the Sea Ranger. A short while after the ship came to Fox's sight. The Capesize freighter Sea Ranger was a big and tough old cargo ship, mainly used for transportation of technology throughout the Northern Cornerian archipelago and intercontinental cargo transport as well. The ship was hired for usage of the multi-millionaire Cornerian company 'White Corp', well-known developers of both military and domestic technology, with Raymond Miller being the owner of the vessel. He had been rendering service to the company for 15 years, and he was well-trusted by the company as one of the most reliable... and cheap transporters there were, despite those three robberies that had happened during the last two years.

Fox and Raymond boarded the freighter and headed straight towards the bridge. Inside the bridge a handful of people operated computers of various kinds. They glanced at Fox when they saw him entering beside Raymond.

"Liss'n up everyone, this is Fox McCloud, our new security sentry" Raymond said and placed a hand on Fox's shoulder. Nobody said anything and returned to their businesses. "I forgot to say they're not too friendly either..." Raymond whispered to Fox's ear.

"I see..." Fox said sarcastically.

"Ok, so..." Raymond picked up a writing board. "McCloud, Fox, right?"

Fox nodded. Raymond nodded too and wrote something on the board. "Right, ya'll be sleeping in... hmm, 64, that one has a free berth... yer roommate's name's Hiram Crane, careful with him McCloud, he's a real bastard" Raymond said. "The crew quarters are on deck-C, ya go and explore the ship a little, here's a map" Raymond took a sheet from a mess of papers on a table and handed it to Fox. "Yer better not stupid 'cause I'm not gonna walk ya to yer room".

Fox hm'ed. "Worry not Captain Miller, I'm not stupid..." He said.

"Fine then, get goin' and report back here in thirty minutes for orders" Raymond said.

"Got it..." Fox replied and walked outside the bridge and towards deck-C. He navigated through the corridors of the ship and eventually reached berths number 64. He opened the door and walked in.

The room was extremely simple. It measured 2x2 meters, had a set of berths to the "bottom", a small desk and a chair. There was a male husky laid on the upper berth, apparently sleeping. Fox huffed and tossed the bag he'd been carrying all the day on the lower bed. The husky woke up abruptly and glanced at Fox.

"And who the f*ck are you?" The husky asked.

Fox hm'ed. "What ways of talking to your roommate..." Fox hummed.

"Roommate? Aw sh*t!" The husky grunted and covered his face with his hands.

"You must be Hiram Crane, aren't you?" Fox asked. "I'm Fox McCloud, nice to meet you"

"Fox McCloud?" Hiram exclaimed. "Not only old Miller sends an idiot to my room but he sends a stupid military brat? No way! Outta the way, I'm gonna ask Miller to move you somewhere else!" Hiram scowled, jumped down the berth and headed outside.

Fox just watched him leave and when he was outside he sighed and hung his head. "Aw man, no matter how hard I try, someone always has to hate me..." He said. "Well Fox, you'll have to deal with it... you've got no other choice..."

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**Yes I know, that wasn't the most thrilling nor interesting chapter, if you don't like it no problem, I dislike it too. But I promise the next ones will be better, I'm really eager to write the posterior ones. Anyway I don't expect any feedback from this chapter, but I'm open for surprises :P**  
**By the way, check my profile for notes about the story's progression, if I'm delaying the updates for too long and you think I died I'll post updates to let you know I'm still alive, and don't worry, I've swore to myself that I'll not abandon this story like many author's have done, but if I don't post updates for too long you'll know I died xD. And although it's all already planned I'm open for suggestions about the story, characters or anything, really guys, if you've got something to say send me a PM. For now thank you everyone and stay aware for the next update.**

**EDIT: Special thanks to ConGie AKA The Sage of Water, for warning me about the differences between "broken" and "bruised" necks. No, I'm not stupid, it's just that because the differences between languages I thought they meant the same thing. Now I know they don't, Thanks!  
**

**NO REVIEWS = I DON'T CARE I'LL STILL UPDATE THIS SH*T**


	5. More than just bad luck

**Wheh! Looooooooong chapter! Over 12,000 words! Can you believe it? Okay here's the fifth one, this is the longest and definitively the most fun I've written so far. Although this one trails off from the main plot and mainly focuses on a small subplot, the events that occur here will have later repercussions O.o so it's relevant anyway. Hope you like it, I spent so much effort in it. Please enjoy!  
**

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Sea Ranger's Crew Quarters, Deck-C, 12:03 am.

Fox breathed deeply in his sleep, one of the most relaxed sleeps he'd had in his life. And it was no wonder, this last week he'd been working long time and sleeping little, he was exhausted, and he took advantage of every little minute of dreaming available.

"PHOW!" Fox exclaimed as all the air in his lungs rushed out when something hit his stomach.

"Up McCloud, your shift started three minutes ago!" A husky grunted while Fox gasped for air. He tossed the flashlight he had hit Fox with at Fox.

"Couldn't you just call out my name Hiram?" Fox half-panted, half-growled.

"I did and you didn't wake up what was I supposed to do?" Hiram growled and jumped onto the upper berth.

"Maybe call again?" Fox asked, picked the flashlight he had been hit with and sat on the edge of his berth.

"Call again? What, do I look like your mother? I called you enough times!" Hiram scowled.

"How many, exactly?" Fox asked while putting on his boots.

"I don't know… one... none, does it matter?" Hiram said and closed his eyes, ready to get some sleep. "Idiot…" He muttered but Fox still heard him.

Fox putted on his sentry uniform, which only consisted in a jacket with the name of the vessel and walked to the door. "Didn't you just bit your tongue?" Fox grunted.

Hiram opened his eyes and glanced at Fox. "You say something McCloud?" He frowned.

Fox growled and glanced over his shoulder, slowly. "Sleep tight…" He said in a feigned sweet tone.

"F*ck you…" Hiram hissed and went back to sleep.

Fox sighed with exasperation and walked out the room. Only one week had passed and Fox was already full of his roommate's jerkiness. Not only that but sick of the other crew members' antipathy at him. No one wanted to talk to him and everyone ignored and evaded him. He felt like the carrier of a deadly and contagious illness. The only one who showed him enough sympathy to at least raise his head at him in a greeting manner was, aside from the captain, a relatively old bulldog named Keith Smith. He was the only member of the crew who didn't evade him nor ignore him. Still, Fox treated him the same way he treated the rest of the crew. Just serious talk, what's this or this is here or the captain wants to see you and nothing else. He still wasn't sure whether he was trustworthy or not.

The corridor outside the crew quarters was very humble. No. More than humble. It was crappy. Sh*tty. The once metallic walls and floors of the corridor were now so rusted, they looked like made from clay. Fox walked towards a set of stairs to the far left, leading to the ship's lower deck.

As soon as he was out he took a deep breath: He had found the smell of the sea incredibly soothing. The sea was quiet, the dark sky was clear, yep, a nice night for a walk around the ship. And fortunately for him, that was what his job consisted in. So without time to lose, he turned on his flashlight and started his midnight round as sentry.

Because of the constant pirate attacks on cargo ships that had been registering during these years, the Sea Ranger, like many other ships, carried heavy arsenal within it. But sentries were only equipped with small blaster pistols, and Fox had one holstered underneath his jacket. It wasn't the best weapon against pirates, since they tended to carry heavy weaponry such as assault rifles and rocket launchers with them, but at least he wasn't completely defenseless.

Fox walked across the walkway of the lower deck at a slow pace, moving his flashlight around, not because he were truly aware for threats, but just to look like he was, in case someone happened to be around. What he was really doing was stare into the dark and calm sea below. It was so soothing, so relaxing… almost as soothing and relaxing as staring at the stars through the Great Fox's window was. He wanted to stay there and only watch the sea. But as much as he wanted to stay there and stare into the sea, his patrol route was at the aft deck. That deck had platforms with landscape sights of the main deck and it was almost always lonely, so he'd have the chance to watch the sea without being caught off duty anyway.

Fox slowly walked his way towards the aft deck. In his way he occasionally met with different members of the crew. No one greeted him nor even looked at him. No one was interested in his friendship nor anything. Oh but he didn't care. All of them could go to hell for all he cared. He wasn't there to make friends. He was there to earn money. Money and money only.

He reached the aft deck at last. Just as he'd suspected, there were only two sentries there, apart from him. There was one set below on the deck, and the other one was on the sighting platform to the farthest left, near the deck's starboard entrance to the crew quarters. Fox's emplacement was on the port side. He walked upstairs and towards the rail on the other side of the deck. He leaned on it and gazed at the huge main deck. There were cargo containers all over it, and he could see the flashlights of the sentries moving around them.

Fox switched his sight to his right. There was nothing else than just a dark and calm sea there. He walked right to it and leaned on the rail, gazing at the sea. The reflex of the moon over it and the slight waves originated by the west wind offered a fabulous sight.

Fox stood there watching the sea for a long time. It was pretty relaxing. So relaxing, that if someone were approaching Fox from behind, he wouldn't have noticed.

"Such a beautiful sight, isn't it?" Fox gasped as he heard a hoarse voice coming from behind. He turned back in an instant and saw Keith, standing there with his sentry uniform, looking at him.

"Whoa, you scared me…" Fox huffed.

"Having a little break?" Keith asked and leaned on the rail beside Fox.

"Are you going to tell Miller?" Fox asked.

"Oh please, do I look like a gossiper?" Keith said and pointed at himself.

"Oh, well, thanks…" Fox said. Everything stood in silence after that. "So…"

"So…" Keith nodded, looking at the infinite.

"Is there something I can do for ya?" Fox asked.

Keith narrowed his eyebrows. "No, just wanted to look at the sea… it's really beautiful…"

"But, you could have looked at it from your side of the deck…" Fox looked at Keith inquiringly.

"Well, I wanted to do it in company of one of my comrades…" Keith smiled.

Fox huffed and turned to lean his back on the rail. "It's the first time someone onboard this ship refers to me as a 'comrade'" He sighed.

Keith frowned. "Why is that?"

Fox shook his head. "I don't know… everyone seems to hate me…"

Keith huffed. "I see… you know, they don't hate you. They simply don't trust you for the fact that you're an ex-military. More precisely, ex-famous military" He said.

"What does it have to do with me?" Fox frowned.

Keith smiled. "Nothing McCloud. They just don't trust militaries. I guess that's because almost everyone here is an ex-criminal"

Fox raised his ears. "Criminals?"

"_Ex_ criminals, and not all of 'em…" Keith said emphasizing on the "ex" word.

Fox huffed. _"That's original…"_ He thought.

"Anyway, don't feel like the dumb no one wants to be near by. Usually they're like this with everyone, not just you. Fact is, they seem to be less interested in you than in anyone else…"

Fox hm'ed. "Well, that's fine anyway. I've ran into many people in my life that doesn't like militaries, the difference between these ones and the others are that these aren't hostile…" Fox chuckled.

"Don't be so sure about that!" Keith chuckled and raised his eyebrows.

Fox smiled. "Thanks for the advice…" he said. "So, are you an ex criminal too?"

"Hah!" Keith laughed. "No man, I'm not"

"Oh, that's good…" Fox said and nodded. "And, is that the reason why you don't have antipathy at me?"

Keith huffed. "Well, in part, yes"

"And what's the other part?"

Keith looked at Fox and smiled. "Well, I, kind of admire you McCloud…"

Fox chuckled. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds weird but, well, you're a hero!"

Fox narrowed his eyebrows. "Are you a soldier?"

Keith gasped in surprise. "I… I was, a time ago. How did you know that?" He asked with confusion.

"Only soldiers have ever said they admired me…"

"Huh, I guess you twisted me…" Keith sighed.

"Yeah…" Fox nodded and sighed too. He frowned suddenly. There was something weird. "Hey, how come the crew doesn't distrust you, if you're a ex-military?" Fox inquired.

"Simple: They doesn't know, I never told them" Keith replied. "You're the only one trustworthy enough to know…"

"Whew, do you really trust me that much?" Fox asked and raised an eyebrow.

Keith laughed. "Well, I said I wasn't going to tell anyone about you not being on guard. I thought you could return me the favor…" Keith said, looking at Fox.

"Worry not, I will…" Fox smiled.

"Great…" Keith sighed. "Hey, by the way…"

"Um?" Fox said.

"The guys and I are going to play poker in the crew's lounge when the shift's over, wanna come?" Keith asked.

Fox chuckled slightly. "I don't know…" He sighed.

"Oh c'mon!" Keith said and punched Fox's shoulder. "It's going to be fun, join us!"

"I... don't know…" Fox shook his head.

"Aw, come on man, you're not going to get far with them with that kind of attitude…"

"It's just that, I don't feel very comfortable around them, they always seem to dislike me…"

"Well, do you feel comfortable with me?"

Fox chuckled. "Enough… yes…" He sighed and nodded.

"There you go! That's one, join us! I'll introduce you to the guys and you'll be friends in no time, I assure you!" Keith said cheerfully, as he placed his hand on Fox's shoulder and shook it.

It took Fox a while to respond. "…Fine…"

"Yeah! That's the stuff!" Keith laughed. "I gotta return to my post, see you at the crew's lounge" Keith patted Fox's shoulder and walked away.

"When the shift's over?" Fox asked.

"When the shift's over" Keith confirmed. He turned around a corner and disappeared from Fox's sight.

Fox sighed and leaned against the rail, facing the sea. "Friends, yeah… we'll see about that…" He said and stared long into the darkness of the night.

* * *

X

* * *

Crew's Lounge Deck-C, 8:11 am.

Four men were seated around a table, one of them was slipping cards to the other three, and another one was a familiar bulldog…

"So, Smith, where's this guy you invited?" The one who was slipping the cards, a lynx, asked.

The old bulldog picked up his cards, careful not to show them to the others. "Oh, he'll be here in a moment, just wait…" He said and arranged the cards on his hand. In that moment, he heard a door opening. "Oh, hey, there he is" He said when he saw the red fox walking in.

The man to Keith's left leaned towards him. "You invited him?" The weasel asked with a sense of disappointment.

Keith gave him a skeptic look. "Yeah, is there a problem?" He asked quietly.

"No, not at all…" The weasel sighed with uncertainness and returned to his previous position.

"Fine then" Keith said. "Hey McCloud, over here!" He called out.

Fox turned his sight at the origin of the sound. "Hey Keith…" Fox greeted and walked towards the group of men. "Hey guys…" He said and took a seat around the table.

"Hey…" The others said unexcitedly.

"Here Foxie, this is Nathan" Keith pointed at the lynx.

"McCloud…" Nathan raised his hand.

"Hi…" Fox replied.

"Henry…" Keith pointed at the weasel.

"Wassup?" Henry raised his hand too.

"Hi man, nothing new…" Fox said.

"And this is Archibald…" Keith pointed at the other one, a black retriever.

"Archie, Keith…" Archie grunted and gave Keith a quick glare.

"Just kidding Archie, you already know" Keith chuckled.

Archie hm'ed. "Hi…" He raised his hand at Fox.

"Nice to meet ya Archie…" Fox replied.

"Ok, now that we're all friends, are we gonna play, or what?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, sure…" Nathan said with uncertainness. He slipped five cards to Fox and placed the rest on the table. "You know the rules, right?" He asked to Fox.

"Yeah, but, what style are we playing?"

"Normal style" Archie answered.

"Okay, make your bets!" Nathan said. Everyone threw two coins worth a credit to the center of the table, except for Fox, who only stared at the money on the table with a 'uh' face.

"What? Smith didn't tell you to bring something to lose?" Henry asked.

"In fact, no, he didn't…" Fox said while staring at Keith.

"Man this is poker. Money's a requirement..." Archie said.

"Alright, don't worry…" Keith said and threw another two credits. "I'll pay his first round"

"As you wish" Nathan shrugged. "So, anyone's going to swap?"

"Gimme three…" Fox said and slipped three cards at Nathan.

"Three? That's pretty risky" Henry chuckled.

"Maybe, but it can just get better …" Fox said as he picked up the cards Nathan slipped at him.

"So, McCloud, tell us about your life on the glory…" Archie said without removing his gaze from his cards.

Fox glanced at him. "In the glory? I was never in the glory…" He sighed.

"Aw c'mon, ya want us to believe that?" Henry asked.

"I'm serious man, all the glory I ever got only lasted about a week…" Fox replied.

"Pff, sure…" Henry chuckled sarcastically. That was enough to make Fox angry.

"Tell me something, do you think that all my life as a mercenary I've lived in the glory, like a super celebrity, admired and loved by everyone?" Fox asked.

"What, it wasn't?" Archie asked and raised an eyebrow.

Fox turned his gaze at him. "Of course not man! Why would you think it was?" He frowned.

"Well, that's what we think…" Nathan said.

"Well, next time get some info before guessing" Fox growled and tilted his head to the left, staring at the lynx. "My life has been the same than anyone else, if not worse…" Fox sighed. "No one loves me like you all think, I'm just another idiot in the society" Fox said.

"But I thought, well, you know, after those three conflicts Corneria has gotten itself involved into, you looked like a total celebrity…" Henry said.

"Believe me dude, it was only for a week. People around the galaxy are a bunch of hypocrites. You save them once, and they'll love you for a week. After that, you'll return to be the same idiot you were for them at the start, if not something lesser. The same useless mercenary who is only good at killing, and nothing else…" Fox said.

Everyone except from Keith and Fox were surprised. What Fox had just said was exactly the way they'd been looking at him these last years.

"Eh, I had no idea McCloud…" Henry said.

"Fox, call me Fox…" Fox said. "And do not worry, I've never cared about what others think about me. I just wanted to make it clear, that my life hasn't been full of glory, like you all think. It all has been just like any other's, hard work, plus the constant risk of dying and losing something you cherish…" He finished.

"Tss, and I always thought you were a bastard…" Nathan sighed.

Fox smiled slightly. "Well, technically I am…" He said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about old James… sorry about that" Nathan said apologetically.

Fox waved his hand. "That's ok, it's old story anyway…"

"Alright guys, what have you got?" Keith said and placed his cards on the table. "I've got nothing… highest card, ace of diamonds"

"Queens pair…" Archie said and placed the cards on the table.

"Haha! Three kings!" Henry said cheerfully and showed everyone his cards.

"Sorry man…" Nathan grinned devilishly and placed his Full House on the table. "Guess today's my lucky day!" He sneered.

"Not so fast…" Fox smiled.

"Huh?" Everyone said.

"Royal Flush my friend…" Fox said pridefully and placed the cards on the table.

"Oh man!" Nathan pouted.

"Yeah! That's it Foxie!" Keith laughed, along with the others.

"Thanks man, here's your money…" Fox said and handed Keith the two credits he had lent him.

"Yo welcome." Keith said and saved the two coins in his pocket.

"Okay this isn't over until all the money runs out! So place your bets!" Nathan scowled.

Everyone shared a short laugh and placed two credits on the table each. "See? I told you you were going to be friends in no time!" Keith whispered to Fox's ear.

"Yeah, it's nice to get some buddies…" Fox replied. _"Hell it is…"_ He thought.

* * *

X

* * *

One hour later…

"-and the man replied: Because you're so f*cking ugly!'" Fox laughed.

Everyone burst into laughter, and kept laughing for a long while.

"That was a good one!" Keith laughed while clapping his hands.

"Where'd ya come up what all that sh*t?" Archie asked, still laughing.

"An old friend of mine, he always had a joke to tell…" Fox sighed.

"One of the Star Fox guys?" Archie asked.

"Oh yes I forgot about Star Fox!" Henry exclaimed. "Was it that... blue, avian guy... what was his name? Lombardi, something..."

Fox smiled. "Yeah, Falco, he was..."

"Yes that was his name! And who was the green and chubby guy, the frog... sloppy? sleepy?"

Fox laughed. "Slippy" He corrected.

"Yeah, Slippy! I completely forgot..."

"Who tries to remember Star Fox?" Archie asked.

Nathan glanced at Archie. "Man you gotta admit they were a handful of memorable guys" He said.

"Yeah! Like that blue chick who used to hang with 'em! She was hot! What was her name? Krystal, Krystal was!" Henry said excitedly.

"Ohoho yeah! She was so sexy!" Archie said excitedly, too.

Nathan chuckled. "Yeah I remember my ex-wife getting angry at me for staring at her while she appeared on the news!" He laughed.

During that conversation what Fox did was just lower his head and stare to the floor emotionless, while listening to the others' comments about Krystal.

"Honestly she was the most memorable of the four, with that flaming body!" Nathan said.

Keith said nothing, because he noticed how downhearted Fox was about the topic. Aside from that, he'd always heard rumors about a romance between them two. He guessed it had some true in it, since Fox seemed so sad now that they had brought Krystal into conversation.

"And what have you got to say Fox?" Nathan asked. "You were the one who lived with her all that time, you're not going to tell me you never dreamed with her at least once!"

Fox raised his head and glanced at Nathan. He lowered it again. "Maybe..." he said unexcitedly.

"Man she was sexy!"

"Yeah... she was... gorgeous..." Fox said in the same melancholic manner.

The other four noticed the lack of emotion on Fox.

"Hey McCloud, what's wrong?" Archie asked and narrowed his eyebrows.

Fox sighed deeply. "Nothing... it's, nothing..."

"Hey, a sigh like that one can't be 'nothing'!" Nathan exclaimed.

"I think I know what's happening here..." Henry said with a mischievous expression.

"I doubt it..." Fox huffed.

"Yeah, you 'wanted' with her!" Henry sneered. Fox exhaled and shook his head. "Aw, c'mon man, there's nothing wrong with that! If you haven't noticed we all have dreamed with her!"

Keith leaned towards Henry and whispered in his ear, "Man, there was more to that than just dreaming..."

Henry narrowed his eyebrows. "Whaddaya mean?"

"This man was genuinely in love with her..." Keith replied.

Henry switched his sight to Fox. "You loved that girl?"

Fox gasped and stared at Henry, for a good while, during which everyone else around the table just switched gazes from Fox to Henry and vice versa. "I uh... I..."

"Man, that's ok, I don't blame you, as you said, she was gorgeous"

"No Henry" Fox sighed. "There was something more to that than just physical attraction..." He said. "At first, like everyone else, I only noticed her beautifulness, but, later... as I got to know her better, I began to like her being manner, she began to take a larger place, in what I considered really important, life-worthy..."

"But man, she betrayed Star Fox..." Archie said.

"Yeah, she did..." Fox sighed. "Why, I don't know... I really can't see a reason why she did that. I could understand why she hated me, but, betraying us? To such a extent? No, I don't see the reason..."

"Wait, why would she hate you? I heard you and your guys rescued her from this planet... what was it called like?"

"Sauria..."

"Sauria! Right! Man that appeared in the news many years ago, how am I supposed to remember?"

"You don't have to..." Fox replied.

"Yeah ok you don't remember, fine... but, why did she hate you?" Nathan asked.

"I... I ejected her from the team-"

"What?" Henry exclaimed. "That's crazy! Why would you scrap that hot beauty?"

"I didn't want her to be harmed" Fox replied immediately. "I feared she might die someday, so I forced her out... maybe making her leave without telling her why was a bad move, but... does it justify that kind of betrayal?" Fox asked.

"No man, definitely not..." Nathan said.

"Man, I'm really sorry... now that you say it, that woman must've been really cruel..."

"Yeah, you saved her life and how does she repay you? With betrayal!" Archie exclaimed.

"I pretty much understand you man..." Henry said. "Many women have done the same to me"

"Women, they're all the same..." Keith shook his head.

"Yeah, they're not worth it..."

"Yeah..."

"Yes I agree..."

Fox just listened at what his friends were saying, doing nothing.

"Don't you agree with us Fox?" Nathan asked.

Fox narrowed his eyebrows and stared into the infinite. He sighed very deeply, trying to resist the pain he'd forgotten and started to feel again...

"Aw man, you're still smitten with her?" Archie asked.

"I can't help it..." Fox said in a sad voice tone, a sad face, a sad head-shake, and a sad sigh. "She was all my hopes... my wishes, my dreams..." He sighed.

Everyone aw'ed and leaned towards Fox to pat him on the back, in the middle of understanding words, trying to cheer him up. Fox really appreciated what his friends were doing, but he still couldn't feel better. He didn't knew what to do, nothing seemed to lift his spirits...

"Nathan Ming!" The group heard a voice coming from inside the lounge.

"Wep!" Nathan said and raised his head.

A brown eagle showed up. "Old Miller wants you on the bridge!" The eagle announced.

"Yeah sure!" Nathan stood up from his chair. "I gotta go guys, see ya later" He said.

"Later Nathan" Everyone said.

"Later Foxie!" Nathan said before walking away with the eagle.

"See ya Nathan..." Fox replied.

"Oh! That reminds me! We gotta go too Archie!" Henry said.

"What?" Archie asked.

"Remember we have to repair the crane!" Henry replied.

"Oh it's true! Let's go before Miller notices it!" Archie leapt up from his chair and dashed outside the lounge.

"See ya later guys!" Henry said and followed Archie.

"Bye..." Fox and Keith said at the same time. Henry waved his hand and walked out.

Everything stood in silence after that. Fox was just staring at the table, emotionless, and Keith just stared at him, trying to think of a way to make him forget the topic.

"And?" Keith asked after a while.

"Uh?" Fox said. "And what?"

Keith smiled. "Didn't I tell you they were a bunch of likable idiots?" He said.

Fox smiled. "Yeah, they are..."

"See? Now you've got some buddies to hang out with here!" Keith said cheerfully. "And you didn't want to meet them..."

"Yeah, I'd wish my roommate was like them..." Fox sighed.

"Oh, yeah! You haven't told me who you're trapped with!" Keith said.

"Hiram Crane" Fox replied.

Keith's cheerful face turned pale and he seemed to enter in state of shock.

"What?" Fox asked.

"Hiram Crane? Hiram Crane's you roommate? You gotta be kidding me!" Keith exclaimed.

"Why? Is he bad?"

"BAD!" Keith shouted. He noticed he talked too loud and tried to regain composure. "Bad? Man, you've been sleeping in the same room than that maniac? It's a wonder you're alive!"

"Why? What's wrong with him?" Fox asked.

"Well... he, kind of haves a problem with soldiers..."

"What kind of problems?"

Keith looked around the room. "What I'm going to tell you, you must promise you're not going to tell anyone..." Keith whispered.

Fox nodded. "I won't, trust me..."

Keith nodded too and leaned closer to Fox. "Hiram, he's... he fought in the Lylatian Conflict..."

Fox stared at Keith like waiting for the bomb. It never came. "...So?" Fox asked.

"Fox... he did not fight alongside the Cornerians..."

Fox widened his eyes. "You mean...?"

"Yes... he fought for Venom..."

"He was one of Andross' sympathizers?" Fox asked surprised.

"Shh!" Keith hushed Fox.

"Sorry!" Fox whispered.

"Yeah, he was..." Keith said. "That's why he hates soldiers more than anyone onboard this ship... and that's why he hates you the most..."

"Because we were the ones who killed Andross..." Fox said.

"Exactly..." Keith said.

"But, that doesn't make sense. They lost the war, right, so what? Why does he have to be rancorous?" Fox asked.

Keith downed his gaze and bit his lower lip. Fox stared inquiringly at Keith.

"Keith... is there something else?" Fox asked. Keith didn't reply. "Keith..."

"Fox I..."

"You, you met with Hiram during the war, didn't you?"

"... Fox, I fought in the Alpha team of the Echo squad, during the war, you ever heard of us...?"

"Yes, I heard a few things about the Echo guys..."

"Well, during a campaign on Fichina, we ran into a Venomian camp..."

"Mm-hmm, go on..."

"We wiped them completely, ruthlessly and efficiently..." Keith said as he reminisced about the incidents that occurred that night on the cold planet...

...

* * *

_**-Start of Flashback

* * *

**_

_"Fire! Fire!"_

_"Kill 'em all!"_

_"Where are they?"_

_"Behind that boulder!"_

_"Careful with that!"_

_"Sharpshooters in position!"_

_"Got one!"_

_"Three more on the left!"_

The combat continued violently on the snowy battlefield. Troops fired, grenades exploded, limbs flied, heads were pierced, men screamed and blood streamed. One single troop ran towards a trench in the middle of laser fire at a desperate pace. He jumped in and landed beside another man.

"Sir!" The man said.

"Smith, you made it!" The other man, a hound, said.

"Yeah yeah, snipers are already in position!" Keith replied.

"That's great news!" The hound smiled.

Gathered in the trench were a group of six men, each one peeking out from the hole and firing their rifles at their enemies.

"Enemies eliminated sir!" One of the men in the trench announced.

"Ok team, let's move on!" The hound said and jumped outside the hole, followed by his men.

Although the Venomians fought bravely and relentlessly, the Cornerians outnumbered them, and eventually all of them had fallen. The time passed, only few troops were left, and they either kept fighting and died or ran away and were captured by the enemy.

The Echo squad was searching the area for remaining troops. They advanced through the snow field, looking for signs of the enemy. Then, Keith saw something.

"Captain O'Riley, look over there..." Keith said.

"What's it sergeant?" O'Riley, the hound, asked.

Keith pointed at something that looked like a trench.

"Good eye sergeant, clear that trench!" O'Riley ordered his men.

One of them tossed a flashbang grenade into the trench.

"Grenade!" Someone in the trench screamed. When it exploded, they heard a group of men pout in annoyance.

"In there, don't move!" O'Riley shouted.

"Don't shoot! We surrender!" They heard a voice coming from the trench.

"Toss your weapons away!"

Five blaster rifles flew outside the hole and landed few meters away from the Echo squadron.

"Sullivan, Harper, check out that hole!" O'Riley ordered.

Two soldiers started advancing slowly towards the trench, aiming their rifles at it. They approached it from the sides, taking a good distance from the possible position of the enemies.

"Don't move!" Sullivan shouted and readied his rifle. "Up on your feet!"

Five men stood up from the hole and raised their hands.

"Hands behind your heads!" O'Riley barked. The five men placed their hands behind their heads.

"C'mon bastards, start walking!" Harper growled and hit one of the venomian soldiers, a gray husky, in the back with his rifle.

The man stumbled forward and fell on the floor, while the others walked slowly towards the Echo squad.

"Get up venomian scourge!" Harper grunted and kicked the fallen man. The husky muttered a few inaudible words and stood up, and followed his submitted comrades, with a rifle cannon on his back.

The group of men escorted the prisoners way back to their command post. It was a long way, but luckily for them they traveled in a APC.

In the middle of the way, O'Riley ordered the drivers to station near a set of boulders to the left. Everyone was confused, but they had to follow their leader's orders. They drove beside the boulders, stopped and exited the APC, as requested by O'Riley.

"Take these men behind these rocks" O'Riley ordered. The team obeyed and took the prisoners behind the set of boulders. "Lieutenant..." O'Riley called out. A white wolf trotted towards him and stopped beside him.

"Yes sir?" The wolf asked.

"Eliminate these men..." O'Riley said quietly.

The wolf narrowed his eyebrows. "What men, sir?"

O'Riley turned towards the prisoners. "These men, kill them all..." He said. The prisoners couldn't hear him because they were too far away from him.

"Sir... we can't do that, they're POWs..."

"I know what they are, Lieutenant... do as I say"

"But sir-"

"You refuse to obey my orders, Lieutenant?" O'Riley frowned.

"... No... sir..."

"Good, then do as you've been asked..." O'Riley growled.

The lieutenant turned towards the rest of the team with uncertainness. It took him a second to make up his mind. "Ok, listen everybody, I want these people on their knees and in a straight row!"

Everybody looked at the lieutenant with confusion.

"They're captain O'Riley's orders, do as you've been asked!"

The team obeyed and in the middle of pouts and complaints they pushed the prisoners to their knees, ordering them in a straight row.

"Okay I want one man in front of each one of these crap bags!" O'Riley barked.

The team did as they were ordered.

"Now, kill them!"

The team wasn't sure about this but they knew they had to obey their leader's orders. In the middle of pouts and complaints by part of the prisoners, one by one, from left to right, they fired at the prisoners heads.

The first one barked a curse and died. The second one screamed Andross' name and fell on the snow. The third one cried for his mom and died.

Hiram, the last of the row, watched in horror how the death wave advanced slowly towards him. He noticed how his friend to his right quivered in terror, and he looked like he'd pissed on himself.

When the third prisoner had died, the second to last one couldn't resist it anymore. He jumped up and tried to run away.

"Kill him!" O'Riley shouted.

Everybody aimed their rifles at the fleeing prisoner and fired, leaving Hiram unattended. Hiram's eyes widened. He knew it was his chance. He stood up in a leap, rushed against one of the soldiers, hit him so he would drop his rifle, took a blaster pistol that the soldier had holstered on his right hip, gripped his arm firmly around the soldier's neck and aimed the pistol at the rest of the soldiers. "Don't move!" Hiram barked.

Everyone aimed their rifles at the threatening husky and his hostage.

"Drop your weapons! Or I'll kill him!" Hiram shouted and placed the pistol's cannon on his hostage's throat.

"Don't do it! Fire!" O'Riley yelled.

"I'll kill him!" Hiram said again.

Everyone hesitated whether to drop their weapons or fire. They all feared for the life of their friend, but they also feared O'Riley's rage. After a long while of thinking, during which Hiram retreated and retreated more and more and got farther and farther, O'Riley exploded.

"Gimme that!" He barked and pulled the rifle out from Keith's grasp. He aimed at the two men getting away and placed his finger on the trigger.

"NO!" Keith exclaimed and pushed the rifle's cannon. The shot was released, but it flew away from Hiram and the soldier.

"SMITH!" O'Riley shouted with rage and hit Keith in the face with the butt of the rifle, making him stumble backwards.

* * *

X

* * *

"What are you gonna do?" Casey asked Hiram. "Do you really think you can get away?"

"I'd rather try to run for my life than stay here and die..." Hiram replied.

Suddenly, a laser bolt flew past his head.

"CRAP!" Hiram shouted and returned the fire. "Sorry buddy but this is where you get off!" Hiram said and shot Casey on the back.

"Moth*rf*ck*r!" Casey yelled and fell down on the snow.

* * *

X

* * *

Laser bolts hit the floor near the team and they jumped behind cover. They saw Hiram running away and Casey falling down.

"Bastard's shot Casey!" One of them exclaimed.

"Don't let him get away!" O'Riley shouted.

Everyone started firing at Hiram as he ran. Suddenly, Hiram appeared to have found a cliff. He jumped down and disappeared from their sights.

They ran towards their fallen comrade. When they reached him, they saw he was struggling to get up but he couldn't.

"Casey are you ok?" The medic asked.

"I can't feel my legs! That son of a b*tch shot my spine!" Casey cried.

"Harper, McAllister, Gibbs, follow that coward! Don't let him escape!" O'Riley ordered.

"Roger sir!" The trio of men said and ran in the direction Hiram went.

Keith just watched how the team's medic tried to patch up Casey's wound. Then, someone took his helmet off and struck him in the face with it with such fiery strength, making him fall on the snow.

O'Riley knelt beside him and neared his ear. "Next time you play something like that on me, Smith, hear me well, I'll kill you..." he whispered. He stood up and tossed the helmet beside Keith. "Understood?"

Keith just stood up, wiped the blood from his muzzle and putted on his helmet again. "Yes sir..."

* * *

_****__**-End of Flashback

* * *

**_

"...-We never found Crane, whatever he did, he vanished from the area..." Keith sighed.

"So that's why Hiram hates soldiers..." Fox said.

Keith huffed. "Well, I'm not really sure, but, all my guesses lead me to the same conclusion, Hiram harbors rancor against those who betrayed him, by trying to take his right to live from him... in this case, Cornerian soldiers" Keith said.

"Oh, I see..." Fox said. "So, he got away... why haven't you told anyone about his presence here?"

"What use could it have? The war ended, there's nothing they could do to him now..."

"But, he turned sides, didn't he? That means he was a foreign soldier, meaning he had no combatant privileges. That would make his participation in the war a crime"

"But he wasn't a soldier Fox, there are no registers of him in any military database. There is no evidence about his traitorous actions"

"But you saw him, didn't you?"

"Yeah but again, no evidence, no crime..."

"Crap, guess he's untouchable..." Fox huffed. "But then, how can you work with him without fearing him taking revenge on you?"

"Well, that's an easy one. We were wearing face-concealing helmets that day. He doesn't know I was there. He only know they were the Cornerians..."

"I see..." Fox huffed and reclined back on his chair. "Hiram's got quite a story to tell..."

Keith leaned closer to Fox. "This is serious Fox, don't let your guard down while near that man... I'd ask for a change of room if I were you..."

Fox shook his head. "No use, Hiram asked for it first and it was denied"

"Well then-"

"Attention, engineers Larry Webber, Keith Smith and Charles Callahan, your presence is needed in cargo hold 3, report there immediately" The loudspeakers interrupted.

Keith raised his head. "Sorry buddy, I gotta go..."

Fox smiled. "Engineer?"

"Yeah buddy, I have got many talents!" Keith chuckled. "Sorry to leave you fella"

"No problem..." Fox said.

"Just remember to be careful with Crane, don't trust him, never!" Keith said as he stood up.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful"

"Fine, see ya later buddy..." Keith said as he patted Fox's shoulder. He turned away and walked out the lounge.

Fox just watched him leave and when he'd disappeared he sighed. Now plus to his current problems, he had to worry about a rancorous ex-venomian fighter who harbored a fervent hatred towards him and could go mad and kill him at any moment.

Fox shook his head and smiled. Hiram couldn't be that bad. Probably he'd already gotten over that by now, and now he just hated soldiers but not wanted to kill them.

Yet, anything could be. He'd have to be careful anyways.

* * *

X

* * *

Few days later...

Sea Ranger's Bridge, Navigational Deck, 10:24 pm.

Two men were seated to both sides of a small square table on a corner of the room, staring at a chessboard.

"Check..." Raymond Miller said when he placed his Queen Bishop five spaces in a diagonal away from the White King.

"Oh, really?" The same age old male german sheppard said as he captured Miller's bishop with his queen.

"Aw, crap..." Raymond muttered.

"Guess it's not your lucky day!" The dog sneered.

"That's what ye think Oliver..." Raymond grinned.

"Uh?"

Raymond immediately captured Oliver's queen with his own queen, thus placing Oliver's king on check, again. "Hah! How'd ya like that?" Raymond laughed.

Oliver smirked. "Wise move Raymond, you're getting better, almost as good as I are..."

"Pff, yah, sure..." Raymond said. "Ye know ye were just lucky at the start!"

"Hmm, just as ever, you never changed Ray..." Oliver smiled.

"Yeah? Well neither did ya!"

Oliver huffed. "I think we'll die like we are now..."

"Yah, so what? I like how I am, ye don't?" Raymond grinned.

"Yeah, we're too old now anyway!" Oliver chuckled.

"Yeah..." Raymond sighed, smiling.

"Aside, from that, you know-"

"Captain Miller" One of the persons operating the bridge's main computer called out.

"Yes, Wellington?" Raymond asked.

"The sentries report they've spotted an unidentified vessel nearby, and getting closer" Wellington replied.

"Uh?" Raymond frowned. He stood up and walked towards the window of the bridge. The darkness limited their sight a little but effectively there was a vessel about half a mile away from them.

"Is our radar picking them up?" Raymond asked.

Wellington frowned. "That's the odd thing. Our radar detects nothing..."

"Open a channel to them..." Raymond ordered.

"Yes sir" Wellington said and pressed some keys on the keyboard. "It's on..."

Raymond cleared his throat. "Captain Raymond Miller of Capesize freighter Sea Ranger here, who are you?"

They got no response.

"Are you sure it's working?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, it's on, maybe they're not at home..." Wellington replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, maybe it's abandoned..."

"Or maybe they are there and they don't wanna tell us..." Raymond growled. He walked towards a microphone on the board and picked it up. "Liss'n up everybody, Captain Miller here. We've discovered an unknown vessel advancing towards us and they neglect to identify themselves. Stay alert, they may be hostiles" Raymond said and placed down the microphone.

"That's an early guessing, Ray..." Oliver said.

"Maybe, but I'm not gonna take the risk" Raymond replied. "Have someone fix the radar..." Raymond ordered.

"Yes sir" Wellington replied.

Raymond walked up to the window and gazed at the ship again. "What are those bastards doin'?" Raymond asked slowly, without quitting his narrowed and attentive gaze from the ship.

"No idea..." Oliver replied as he stood beside Raymond.

Suddenly, a light sparkled in a remote part of the ship, apparently the main deck. A black dot appeared on their line of sight.

"What's that?" Raymond asked. The dot seemed to be getting closer.

"That is, it's... IT'S A F*CKIN' ROCKET!" Oliver screamed.

Raymond widened his eyes. "WHAT THE-?"

BAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The ship's bridge exploded violently, shaking the ship and everything in it.

* * *

X

* * *

"HOLY CRAP!" One of the guards on the deck exclaimed in sight of the massive explosion that destroyed the bridge. "The bridge's been destroyed!" He shouted.

"Man look at that!" One of his comrades exclaimed and pointed at a smoke stream that started on the bridge, traveled over the sea and ended on the black vessel away.

The first guard noticed some objects coming out from behind the ship. "Man lend me your binoculars!" He said.

The other guy tossed a pair of binoculars at the man. He caught it in midair and took a look at the strange objects with them. They were small black boats, advancing fast at them, with armed people on them.

"Pirates..." The man muttered.

"What?" The other asked.

"Pirates! PIRATES! SOUND THE ALARM!"

"F*CK!" The other man shouted and ran off towards a wall. It had attached an alarm button. And with all the strength that his run gave to him, the man smashed down the button... but the alarms didn't went off. "THEY'RE NOT WORKING!"

"THEN RUN THE VOICE!" The man with the binoculars shouted.

The other man ran off and started screaming, "PIRATES! WE'RE UNDER A PIRATE ATTACK! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

Every man who heard him started running the voice, and they started running too. Everyone ran towards the weapon racks that were scattered around the ship to pick their rifles, and those who couldn't get one ran inside the ship towards the armory.

The first guard took out his blaster pistol and started firing randomly towards the incoming boats, while shouting at the top of his voice, "TAKE THIS YOU F*CKING BASTARDS!"

One of his shots hit one of the pirates in the shoulder.

"Gah! I'm hit!" The wounded man exclaimed.

"Damn! Those f*ckers are replying! FIRE!" Another one on the same boat barked. They all (There were around four men on each boat, and there were around six boats, plus those which still were coming out) took their rifles and started firing at the ship.

"YEAH, DO YOU LIKE IT MOTHE-? AGHHH!" The firing guard got hit in the chest by one of the pirates. He fell down and died in the moment.

* * *

X

* * *

About three minutes earlier...

"Mmmhsmghsagmdg..." Fox gibbered in his sleep.

Suddenly, a banging sound, followed by a violent shake, woke him up abruptly.

"What the?" He sat upright on his bed at light speed and perked up his ears, and stood still, waiting for a confirmation that what happened was bad.

He heard nothing, so he guessed they had only been shook by a wave and went back to sleep. About a minute later, Fox heard a huge tumult coming his way. He sat upright on the bed and listened.

The door of his room slid open fast and the light entered, blinding him momentarily.

"Get up everyone! We're under attack!" The man who opened the door shouted and ran off, followed by another group of altered men.

"Under attack?" Fox exclaimed. He jumped down of his bed and putted on his boots. "Hiram! We gotta-! uh?" Fox said confusedly when he saw that Hiram's berth was empty. He guessed he must've been on patrol so he shrugged his absence off and ran outside.

* * *

X

* * *

Main Deck.

"They're coming from the port side!" A man crouched behind a crate shouted.

"Shoot 'em all!" Another man replied and discharged the battery of his rifle on the group of men who were climbing overboard from the port side. Many of them fell down to the water, but many still managed to climb and take cover behind the cargo containers.

"Grenade! Take cover"

"Careful with that!"

"Watch out behind you!"

"There are more coming from the starboard side!"

"We're gonna die!"

"Shut up and fire!"

Fox ran outside the deck-C and stared in shock at the fight taking place on the ship. There were lots of men lying on the floor, many of them yelling in pain, others bleeding and others completely immobile.

"Fox!" Fox heard a hoarse shout coming from behind him. He turned his head and saw Keith, perking his head out from behind a crate.

"Keith!"

"Come here idiot! You're gonna get hit!"

Fox ran towards the crate and jumped over it. "What the hell is going on?" Fox exclaimed.

"Pirate attack smart *ss!" Keith replied. He perked out from behind the crate and fired his rifle.

"I need a weapon!" Fox said.

"Yeah I'm aware of that!" Keith said and fired his rifle again. "Follow me to the armory!"

"CHRIST!" A ferret screamed and fell down beside the crate. His rifle slid on the floor and stopped beside them.

"Or, you could take this poor man's rifle!"

Fox picked up the rifle and searched the man's dead body for spare batteries. He found a few ones and saved them inside his pocket.

"Got a plan?" Fox asked.

"Not yet!" Keith fired another load towards the attackers. "DIE M*TH*RF*CK*RS!"

Fox joined him and fired. He could barely hit a few marks.

Keith noticed Fox's lack of marksmanship and chuckled. "What's wrong Foxie? Lost your touch?"

"Something like that, it's been a while since the last time I used one of these!" Fox replied. "Where's the captain?"

"Miller is dead!" Keith replied.

"What!" Fox exclaimed.

"Follow me!" Keith said, stood up and ran off. Fox followed him towards the cargo containers.

"Keith, how is that Miller died?" Fox asked.

"The bridge was blown up!" Keith replied.

"We lost the bridge?" Fox shouted.

"Yeah! Whatever they want, it's not the ship!" Keith said and stopped behind a corner of one of the containers.

"That's odd!" Fox said.

"Hell it is!"

"Guys!" The two heard a voice from behind them.

"Who is it?" Keith aimed his rifle at the source of the sound.

"Don't fire! it's Henry!" Fox said.

"Henry! Dude, you're okay!" Keith exclaimed.

"Yeah yeah, it wasn't easy though!" Henry said.

"Where are the others?" Keith asked.

"They got Archie" Henry said sadly. "I don't know where's Nathan"

"Damn bastards!" Keith yelled.

"Man, we need a plan!" Fox said.

"Yeah we do!" Keith said.

"Listen guys!" Henry said before a laser bolt wheezed past his head. "Son of a b*tch!" Henry exclaimed before jumping behind a container, followed by Fox and Keith.

"Say it!" Keith said and peeked out from behind the container to fire at their aggressors. The group of pirates returned the fire en masse, forcing Keith to take cover again. "And quickly, we don't have much time!"

"The ship's rendered useless now that it lost the bridge!" Henry said. "And these bastards outnumber us on a proportion of five to one! If we hope to live, we must find a way to escape!"

"Lifesaving boats?" Fox asked.

"We got a winner!" Henry replied. "Unfortunately those moth*rf*ck*rs destroyed the majority of 'em. The only one left is probably on the aft deck!"

"What makes you so sure about that?" Keith asked and fired again.

"It's just a guess!" Henry replied. "Listen, it's our best choice, all the other boats were destroyed!"

"And how do you suppose we'll get there with this skirmish going on?"

"Listen, there's a hatch that leads inside the cargo holds near here, let's enter the ship and try to reach the exit towards the aft deck!"

"Okay, that's enough for me! let's go!" Keith said and ran past Fox and Henry towards the abaft side, advancing behind the cargo containers to avoid being seen. Fox and Henry ran behind him, since they knew there were still a group of pirates around the corner behind them.

The trio ran their way through the main deck in direction towards the aft deck. They advanced along the starboard, slowed down by the combat that was taking place on the vessel.

"Take 'em down!" Keith shouted and fired his rifle.

"Wait, there are more on the left!" Henry advised.

"I'll take care of them!" Fox said and unloaded the battery of his rifle on the group of pirates closing in on them from behind them. "Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha! How'd you like that?" Fox screamed as he fired and the pirates fell down.

"Calm down Foxie!" Keith laughed.

Fox couldn't help it. The constant carouses he'd been having these last years made him forget the heat and excitement of battle. And now that he'd remembered it, he felt at home. He handled the rifle so easily, as if it was another limb of his body, aiming and firing were his second natures.

They barely managed to reach the hatch unharmed. But they finally did.

"Ungh!" Fox struggled to turn the handle of the hatch. It wasn't any easy, the f*cking ship was old and rusted and the hatch gave off hints that it hadn't been used in a good while.

"Cover us!" Keith told Henry as he went to help Fox turn the handle.

"Sure!" Henry said and raised his rifle, waiting for any pirates that happened to get near them.

They weren't in the exact place where the skirmish was having place, or at least, where it was currently taking place, because there were various corpses scattered around them. Henry could hear blaster shots and yells coming from the maze constituted by the huge cargo containers, and this just made him more worried. The pirates seemed to surpass them in number and strength, and the worst of all, they just seemed to want to kill them. This wasn't very probable, since no smart pirates would just go and waste their weapons uselessly on a innocent vessel and then leave. They tended to submit the vessel's crew and steal the goods they had onboard, but these ones destroyed the bridge, and just focused on killing the crew.

The handle squeaked annoyingly as it turned slowly. It finally gave up after a few turns. "Done! Let's go Henry!" Keith shouted and entered the hatch after Fox.

"Just about time!" Henry said and followed them inside.

When the trio had entered the ship, Fox pushed the hatch shut and turned the handle to close it. This time he didn't need help from Keith, the first turns seemed to have loosened the handle a little.

"Okay guys, let's get moving! The port exit is north from here. Follow me!" Fox said, raised the sight of his rifle and took the lead towards the cargo holds.

Keith and Henry just stared at him as he advanced towards the holds. Henry glanced at Keith.

"Did he just give us an order?" Henry asked.

Keith smiled. "I guess that's the famous captain McCloud, huh?" He chuckled.

"Pff, as long as he doesn't go farther from the line..." Henry said and followed Fox.

"I don't think he will..." Keith said and followed Henry.

...

"Hmm... engine room..." Fox read a sign with an arrow on the wall of a corridor. "This way..." Fox said and jerked his head towards the direction the arrow pointed.

"He's a clever one huh?" Henry sneered in low voice.

Keith just laughed silently and shook his head.

Fox reached the port entrance to the engine room and peeked out from it. It seemed to be alone. "Henry, investigate the area ahead..."

"Excuse me?" Henry asked and narrowed his eyebrows.

"Oh!" Fox widened his eyes. "Sure... uh, I, think I let myself get carried on too much... I'll go..." Fox said and entered the engine room.

Henry shook his head. "Can you believe it Keith?"

Keith stood pensive for a moment. "I think we should do what he says..." Keith said.

"What?" Henry frowned. "No way I'm gonna take orders from some military sucker..."

"Henry think about it. This man has lead many successful fights against many powerful enemies... I think he more than knows what he's doing..."

"Dude he was about to send me risk my hide in there!"

"Would you rather having him risking his own hide?"

"Of course!"

"Well I wouldn't. He's got all the strategic brains, I've just got a rifle..."

"Well if he's all that experienced he surely can look after himself"

...

Fox examined the engine room with his sight and ears. He heard no one and saw no one, everyone was probably on the main deck or dead. Fox whistled at Keith and Henry. Another whistle was returned.

"It's clear..." Fox announced. Keith and Henry entered the engine room and gazed around.

"Man this place's empty..." Henry said.

"Yeah I guess everyone's fighting for their lives up there..." Keith said.

"We've gotta hurry if we hope to escape this ship..." Fox said and tilted his head to the left.

"Yeah Foxie I got your back..." Keith readied his rifle.

"Yeah sure, me too..." Henry huffed and readied his rifle.

Fox nodded and guided the pair of men through the engine room. It was really easy. No one seemed to be there.

"To Crew's Quarters A" A letter board beside a door said. Fox putted his back against the wall beside the door.

"Hold on..." He said and lifted his fist in signal that they had to stop. He peeked inside the door slowly.

"Man, this guy makes me feel like I'm in some kind of super SWAT team or something..." Henry said in low voice, staring at the cautious vulpine.

"There is no unnecessary precaution Henry..." Keith replied to his friend's comment, also staring at Fox.

"It's clear, go in" Fox said. Keith and Henry did as Fox said and entered the door. Fox was about to follow them, when he heard footsteps coming from the lower level. He walked up to the rail and glanced down.

There was a man standing below him. Another man, a pirate as Fox could tell, walked towards the other man. He stopped in front of him.

"Have you found him yet?" The man asked.

"Negative mister Crane..." The pirate replied.

Fox gasped. "Hiram?" He muttered.

"Have you searched everywhere?"

"Affirmative, there's no sign of him..."

"Have you already checked the Crew's Quarters?"

"That and the main deck were the first places we checked..."

"Is there any chance he could've escaped?"

"I don't think so. Many men report they saw him around the main deck earlier, but they were too busy fighting the other members of the crew to get him. Maybe if we just killed him-"

"Don't even think about that!" Hiram exclaimed. "I need _him _alive!"

"Why? It's been just causing us problems. You know, we could just kill you, take the cargo and sink the ship..." The pirate hissed.

Hiram growled. "Remember that we have a deal. You get the goods, I get McCloud..."

"What?" Fox muttered. "Me? What does he want me for?"

"Okay, just because _the boss _told us that you had to come back alive and with McCloud in your possession"

"He must be around somewhere, tell your men to check the crew quarters again, the armory, the holds, the lounge, search for him everywhere..."

"What if he's with someone?"

"Is that a real question? Kill everyone aside from him! McCloud's the only one who _must_ live!"

"Roger" The pirate said. "Let's get moving guys!" He said and walked towards the stairs. A group of armed men came out from behind the turbines and engines of the room and followed the pirate.

Fox gasped. They were coming upstairs, where he was. He stood up and tried to run inside the door Keith and Henry went through, but he bumped into something...

"Hey!" Keith exclaimed as he stumbled backwards. He almost fell down but Henry caught him.

"Huh?" The pirates exclaimed.

"_Oh sh*t_" Fox thought. They had heard them.

Hiram raised his gaze and saw the red furred fox leaned against the rail. "It's McCloud! Get him!" He shouted.

"There he is!" One of the pirates shouted and started firing towards Keith and Fox while the others rushed upstairs.

"Run for your lives!" Fox exclaimed and ran inside the door towards the crew quarters.

"Dammit!" Keith gasped as the laser bolts flew past him for just few inches. "C'mon Henry let's get the hell outta here!" He said and ran behind Fox.

"I'm with ya!" Henry exclaimed and followed Keith inside the door.

Fox sprinted across the corridor at the fastest speed his legs could carry him. At the end of the corridor, he saw a hatch. It probably lead to the crew's lounge, and from the crew's lounge, they could easily reach the aft deck. He rushed towards the hatch, almost crashed on it, grabbed the handle and struggled to turn it. The adrenaline in his veins gave him a boost in his strength, so it turned fast.

"Fox! Fox!" He heard Keith's voice coming from behind.

"I'm here!" Fox replied and kept turning the handle. Finally, the hatch was open. Fox pulled it open while shouting, "Come on, hurry!"

"We're on our way!" Henry replied.

"Don't let 'em get away!" They heard a voice coming closer.

"Close it now!" Keith shouted when he'd crossed the door.

"Not yet!" Henry exclaimed as he ran.

"Hurry up- WHOA!" Fox was nearly hit in the head by a laser bolt. The pirates had started firing at them, but they couldn't aim well because they were running. However, they were getting closer and closer.

"I'm home!" Henry said when he crossed the door.

"Nice, help me close this crap!" Fox shouted and pulled the hatch close from the other side.

Hiram saw Fox closing the hatch. "NO! Stop him!" He yelled.

"Just one more!" The trio exclaimed and turned the handle. The handle turned slowly, but it was nearly completely shut close. "One more turn!" Keith said.

Suddenly the handle became harder to turn. "Uh, guys? Why is it turning slower?" Henry said in a struggling voice tone. It started feeling like the handle refused to turn.

"Crap! They're trying to open it!" Fox gasped. "Turn harder!"

"Crap!" Keith exclaimed and struggled harder. Henry did too.

On the other side, three pirates were fighting against the trio. Eventually, more men added their strength to the struggle.

"Oh, oh, oh, shit, shit!" Henry said nervously when the handle started stopping.

"C'mon, harder!" Fox hissed.

"Unghhhh!" The trio hissed as they struggled with all the strength they had. Unfortunately, the handle started turning in the opposite direction.

"This is no use! Leave it and run!" Henry exclaimed and ran off towards the crew's lounge. Fox and Keith followed suit and ran off.

"Did I saw Hiram back there?" Keith asked as they ran.

"Yeah, that son o fa b*tch is leading the attack!" Fox replied.

"What? That bastard!"

...

It took barely a few seconds for the group of men to open the handle and kick the hatch open.

"Don't lose them!" Hiram shouted as the group of pirates ran towards the crew's lounge. He took out a radio and turned it on. "Listen everybody, Fox McCloud is in direction to the aft deck! Get him on his tracks!"

...

The trio ran his way through the crew's lounge. They ran upstairs and reached a corridor that lead towards a "T" intersection. When they reached it, they stopped and glanced at both sides. "What now?" Henry asked.

A door opened on the left corridor and three pirates came out rushing. "There they are!" One of them shouted when he saw them.

"Go right!" Fox shouted and ran towards the door to the right. No one complained and they followed Fox inside the door. They closed it fast and slid the lock bar close. POOM! POOM! The pirates on the other side started attacking the door. The lock was so rusted that it started breaking.

Fox widened his eyes. "C'mon, this will only delay them for just a while!" He said.

"Dude this leads to the aft deck!" Henry said excitedly.

"Then let's run!"

The door they went through lead to a set of stairs leading up. The trio ran upstairs and with some effort opened the hatch.

"Haha, we're out!" Keith laughed.

"Yeah, we made it!" Henry exclaimed.

"Stop that! We need to find the boat!" Fox said.

They started looking around. But they could see nothing. "Henry, where's the boat?" Keith yelled with anger.

"I don't know! It must be here!" Henry said nervously.

"You mean it's there..." Fox said and pointed at the sea. Keith and Henry narrowed their eyes to see what was on the sea. Crap: A lifesaving boat, getting away.

Keith's breathing pattern began getting faster. "We came all the way here for this?" Keith scowled.

"Man I, I thought-"

"Well you shouldn't have thought!" Keith shouted as he grabbed Henry by the collar and glared at him fiercely.

"Keith calm down!" Fox shouted.

"How can I calm down in a situation like this?" Keith asked madly.

"Keith we tried, this was our only hope and it vanished, but at least we tried... release him, it wasn't his fault..." Fox sighed.

Keith huffed sadly and released Henry. "Sorry dude, I... I let the anger get the best of me..." He sighed.

Henry gulped. "No problem..." He said as he stroked his neck.

PWAZ! They heard a loud noise. Immediately after, a group of pirates came out from both starboard and port sides and corralled them against the deck's rails.

"Don't move!" The pirates shouted and aimed their rifles at them.

The trio sighed with discontent and raised their hands. The pirates surrounded them and pushed them to their knees, before tying up their hands behind their backs. Seconds after, Hiram appeared from behind the pirates.

"Hell McCloud, you're really slippery!" Hiram chuckled. Fox just growled.

"Let's kill these other guys!" One of the pirates said and walked in front of the trio.

"Wait Taylor!" Hiram exclaimed.

"What?" Taylor asked.

"I also want this one alive..." Hiram said and pointed at Keith. "You can kill the weasel if you want..."

Henry's eyes widened. "DUDE WAI-!" Henry exclaimed before his head was blasted with a blaster shotgun. The headless body fell on the floor and started bleeding slowly.

Fox stared in shock at his dead friend. He hadn't known him for any more than a few days and he'd already lost another friend. The grief wouldn't let him make even a noise.

"NO! HENRY!" Keith yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Aw c'mon, as if you were going to miss him..." Hiram said.

"You bastard!" Keith shouted and tried to get up but Taylor kicked him in the stomach.

Keith gasped and fell down on the floor coughing. "Why should we let this one alive too? The deal was McCloud and McCloud only!" The huge man said and aimed his shotgun at Keith's head.

"You just do as I say!" Hiram scowled.

"But why?" Taylor asked again.

"Are you really that eager to kill?" Hiram asked and narrowed his eyes. "I want this one alive, too..."

Taylor grunted and lowered his shotgun. "Fine..." He hissed.

Hiram nodded and turned to face the rest of the pirates. "Okay, I'm done here. You can take whatever you want from the ship now. Just do it quickly, and sink the vessel when you're done..." Hiram said.

"You bastard! How could you!" Fox barked.

Hiram narrowed his eyebrows and glanced at Fox. "Why is he still conscious?" He asked.

"I'll take care of that..." Taylor said and hit Fox's nape with his shotgun. Fox blacked out instantly.

* * *

**:D So... what do you think? I hope you liked it. This was my very first attempt at some "action", so it may have not been too thrilling, but, it wasn't bad, right? I can't help feeling something wrong about the poker play scene and the hiram-is-a-traitor scene either. I don't know what it is, if you do, tell me! For now that was all, the rule returns: No reviews equal to no updates. By the way, my apologies to all the readers who were expecting this chapter for past saturday, as I said, I had to rewrite many scenes, such as the flashback: originally it was just Keith telling Fox what happened, but I decided to add the flashback to add some more drama. Was it a good decision? I hope it was. Please leave a review. And thanks for reading!**

***Edited the phrase ConGie signaled. Not the way he told me to do, but, it's right now, right?**


	6. Pitiful idiot

**Hallou everyone! The Soccer World Cup Tournament 2010 has begun maddaffackerz! I'm so excited I think I'm gonna explode! But before that, I have to write this thing, sooooooo... here it is :P the sixth chapter.  
Just to answer Graystripe's question: Yeah, yeah dude, you're right, the fifth chapter trailed off from subject... and so does this one, but worry not, the next one will get the train back on it's trails :D  
And by the way! Lemme introduce my new Beta-Reader: ConGie! The Sage of Water! He's offered me his correction services so you can start saying goodbye to all those pesky errors that have been staining my story so far X3 Thank you buddy! You know, this isn't the first time someone offers me his BR services, but the first dude who did seems to have been absent for a long while now, so I think his offer's over. But I appreciate it anyway.  
That's all. Please enjoy!

* * *

**"Wake up…" A voice echoed in the dark.

"Wake up…" The same voice repeated.

"C'mon m*th*rf*ck*r wake up!" Hiram shouted before slapping Fox's face violently.

"Huzzat!" Fox gasped and widened his eyes. It took his eyes a while to clarify what he were seeing. The face of a ugly black and white husky, staring at him emotionlessly.

Hiram smiled and leaned back. "You're finally awake…"

"W-What happened? Where am I?" Fox hummed lazily. He tried to move but he found out his hands and feet were shackled on a wall. He struggled against the shackles but you don't expect he was able to break free, do you?

"Well, I don't exactly know this vessel's name – something shitty like, uh… killer whale… I dunno…"

Fox finally recovered his judgment and understood what was happening. "Hiram… HIRAM! You! You bastard! What did you do to the Sea Ranger?" Fox snapped.

"I sunk it…" Hiram replied with calm and quietness.

"What?" Fox gasped.

"I SUNK IT!" Hiram snapped violently. "Are you deaf, or what? Man!"

"B-But, why?"

"Because we won't need it anymore" Hiram said with the same calm and quietness as before. Was he bipolar, or something?

"And the crew?"

Hiram huffed smiling and shook his head. "Fox… Please think before making a question. Seriously, what do you think happened to the crew?"

"They… They're dead?"

"See? It wasn't hard to figure…"

Fox gasped. "Why, why would you do that?"

Hiram sighed. "It wasn't personal…" He said, but he seemed to rethink it. "Well, maybe a little personal. I hated all of 'em…"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Well McCloud, I'm not gonna stretch the tale. I'd been working on that vessel for a long while. The payment was anything but fair. Crap I tell you. Anyway, when I went to ask Miller to move you outta my room, I realized who was my roommate"

"Uh?"

"Fox McCloud, buddy!" Hiram laughed. "The well-known mercenary celebrity of the Lylat system!"

"What are you talking about? What do I have that's special?"

"Is that a real question?" Hiram narrowed his eyes.

"Dude I'm a retired mercenary, not a politician…"

"Ah but someone with your fame surely has some practical uses…" Hiram grinned.

"What, what do you mean? What are you going to do with me?"

"What? Eh… you're not as sharp as I thought you were…"

"Stop rounding it!"

"Fox there are lots of appliances to kidnapped people – organ sales, slavery, prostitution… don't worry though, the one I have in mind for ya is rescue cash"

"Rescue cash?" Fox frowned.

"Yeah! Just imagine how much money would Lylat pay to have back their beloved hero!" Hiram laughed.

"Hiram you're dreaming too much. At this point Lylat wouldn't give a shit to rescue me…" Fox sighed.

"Ok, maybe not Lylat, but the army would hand over a huge amount. I know the Army General holds you dear…"

Fox gasped. "How do you know that?"

"Aw man, everybody knows that. After all, you'd been working with him for about a decade, hadn't you? And when old James died, he was the one to take care of you…"

"Peppy…" Fox whispered.

"But, if his elbow weighs too much for even your life, maybe I can sell your head to one of those people that wants you dead, like Lord Oikonny…"

"Andrew?" Fox gasped.

"Yeah, that excuse of an ape happening to be one of Great Andross' descendants… disappointing. He's got some cash though"

"That's all? That's why you did what you did? That's why you killed all of them? To earn money?"

"Yep, what else would I have done that for? From the start, you were my target McCloud…"

Fox lowered his gaze, hung his head and flattened his ears. He seemed to be the root of the genocide that took place on the Sea Ranger.

Hiram snapped his fingers in front of Fox. "Hey, stay here. You've got far more serious problems to deal with, comrade…" Hiram mocked.

Fox glared at Hiram. "Don't call me comrade…" He growled through gritting teeth. "You're not my comrade… You're just a worthless piece of junk…"

"Tsk, as if I bothered about what you think about me…" Hiram hummed. "I'm leaving ya Foxie, I've got another person I have to settle things with…"

"Who's it?" Fox asked.

"That annoying bulldog I've been keeping my sights on for a long while now…"

"Keith?"

Hiram didn't respond and slammed the door back him. Fox struggled to get free from the shackles again. Again and again. Obviously he hadn't any success. He sighed and hung his head in defeat.

* * *

X

* * *

Inside a dark, small room, tied to a chair, an old bulldog rested. He wasn't fully asleep, he was only lightly snoozing. Suddenly, the door to the room opened. He looked up and glared at the figure beneath the door frame. He couldn't tell who was it since the sudden light dazzled him.

"Greetings, have a good nap?" The man asked.

Keith reincorporated himself on the chair and smiled. "Yes, yes indeed…"

"Good…" The man said in a evil tone as he closed the door shut again. The darkness to which Keith's eyes had been accustomed let him see who was that man, although he'd already been suspecting it.

"Hiram… good to see you…" Keith said.

Hiram smiled. "Can't say the same…"

"Oh well, not everyone will, like you, huh?"

"Right…" Hiram said, blankly staring at Keith.

"So… Wanna explain what that show you made on the vessel was?" Keith asked.

"Desire for a better life…" Hiram replied and walked up to Keith.

"Better life? Yeah, I've seen many people kill others just for a sandwich, but, you're ridiculous…" Keith chuckled.

Hiram hm'ed. "I've nothing to explain to you…"

"Maybe you can explain how I fit in your plan to get a better life, by killing a whole freighter's crew…"

"Nah, you're not a part of the plan… in fact, you should've died a good while ago." Hiram said as he leaned closer to Keith.

"Yeah? And what're you waiting for? I'm getting tired of this…" Keith hissed.

"I just wanna know, why did you do it...?" Hiram asked.

Keith frowned. "Do what?"

Hiram gave Keith various light, weak slaps on the face. "You know what… back there on Fichina…"

Keith gasped. His tongue froze. "W-What're ya talking about?" Keith asked nervously.

Hiram gritted his teeth and slapped Keith on the face with fiery strength. "Don't play dumb with me Keith, you know what I mean!" Hiram growled.

"I don't know what're you talking about, man!" Keith snapped.

Hiram sighed and shook his head. He brought his hand into his left jacket pocket and drew out a silvery watch. "What's this, Keith?"

Keith stared at the watch for a few seconds. "Hey, that's my watch!"

"Yep… this is your watch…" Hiram said quietly while he stared at it. "This is the same watch you were wearing that night on Fichina, when you killed all my friends…" Hiram hissed.

Keith's jaw fell down. "W-What? You're kidding!"

Hiram growled and punched Keith on the face. "I ain't kidding you bastard! This is the watch you were wearing that night!"

"How can you remember that? How can you remember seeing that watch on my wrist?" Keith exclaimed.

Hiram grinned. "Man, you were aiming a rifle right onto my head. How could not I notice the watch on your left wrist?"

Keith was astonished. "Hiram… listen. Those were our captain's orders, we had nothing to do with-" ZHAP! Keith's head turned in a blink.

"Shut up!" Hiram barked and retracted his arm. "Don't come saying you hadn't nothing to do with it! You could've easily neglected to do it!"

"Hiram, captain O'Riley was a bastard with power! He could've told the general we were traitors and no matter how much we would've pouted they would've still believed him and he could've done all he wanted with us!"

"We surrendered before you, we were prisoners with a right to live, and you tried to take it from me!"

"Don't be stupid Hiram!" Keith grunted. "You changed sides, you were a foreign soldier in Andross' army so you hadn't any combatant privileges, thus making your participation in the war a crime. You could've been punished with death!"

Hiram gritted his teeth and punched Keith on the face. "So you decided to end with it in the moment, huh? And what about my friends? They HAD combatant privileges, what's your excuse for that?"

Keith sighed as blood streamed down from his muzzle. "Hiram… I'm sorry, I'm sorry for all what happened… I… I didn't mean to harm any of you-" WHAZ! Hiram kicked Keith on the stomach and made him fell on his back with a loud yelp while still tied to the chair.

Hiram walked towards Keith, crouched beside him and grasped his hair with anger. "You're a liar…" He whispered through his teeth. Keith only hissed in pain.

Hiram shook Keith's head and threw it violently. "This'll be your grave, Smith… This vessel. Got it? This is the end of your road. That was the only reason I let you live before, so I could kill you later…" Hiram hissed and kicked Keith on the stomach again.

"Fine…" Keith coughed and spitted blood. "I've lived enough already…"

"Good for you… Though you're not leaving till you pay for what you did!" Hiram barked and slammed his foot on Keith's side. Keith yelped loudly.

Hiram was about to kick Keith again but then someone wearing a raincoat opened the door of the room.

"Hiram…" The ferret said.

"Yeah! What!" Hiram barked.

"The boss wants to talk to you…" The ferret replied and walked out.

"Seems like our conversation will have to continue later on…" Hiram hissed and walked towards the door.

...

"What does that idiot want me for?" Hiram hissed when he was out.

"I don't know, he demands your presence in McCloud's cell" The ferret replied.

"Hss, fine…" Hiram huffed and took route towards the vessel's cells block.

The ship he was currently aboard was originally a military ship, the members of the pirate group being mainly renegade soldiers. They had got rid of the GPS systems to avoid being found, and now they used the vessel for piracy purposes. Members of the group called themselves The Sharks, pretty cool, huh? No? Okay then no. But they were a group of thieves, did you expect them to be original?

It was only matter of time until Hiram finally reached the cells block. He walked until he reached Fox's cell, where he was still shackled on the wall. Fox seemed to be unconscious, and there was a black and white cat staring at him emotionlessly with his arms crossed.

Hiram stepped inside the cell. "What do you want?"

"Mmm?" The cat glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, Crane, there you are..." The cat said.

"Yes, now, can you tell me what do you want me for? I was in the middle of an important conversation..."

"Ah, your little talk with the bulldog?"

Hiram nodded.

The cat smiled and walked towards Fox. "Here's the legendary Fox McCloud..." He said as he slowly passed his hand in front of Fox's face. Fox didn't seem to mind it. He ignored it completely.

"Yeah, there he is..." Hiram said. "Why is he unconscious?" Hiram asked after noticing Fox's eyes were closed.

"Oh, I dunno. He seems to have fallen asleep..."

"I see..." Hiram said. "What does he have that's so special?"

The cat smiled. "Just look at him... he fell quite low, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did..." Hiram sighed exasperatedly.

"Just imagine it, this man used to be the deadliest soldier in the galaxy, and now he's here, weak and humiliated, shackled onto an old and rusted wall..."

"Is there a point to this?" Hiram hissed.

The cat laughed silently. He gazed back at Fox. "Such a famous person, is quite a trophy..."

Hiram grew uncomfortable with what the cat had just said. "What do ya mean?"

The cat smiled. Hiram heard some kind of metallic sound behind him and glanced back. There was a group of three men pointing their rifles at his head.

"Mikhail, what does this mean?" Hiram growled.

The cat laughed again. "It means, I think I want to keep this man..." The cat said quietly as he took out a cigarette from his left jacket pocket.

Hiram scowled at Mikhail, who just stared back at him with this quiet gaze. "Good joke Mikhail..." Hiram smirked. "Now tell these guys to lower their weapons..."

Mikhail took out a lighter and lit the cigarette, as he putted it on his muzzle and took a long drag from it. "No... I Don't think I will..." Mikhail huffed as the smoke rushed out from his mouth.

"Mikhail, we had a deal..." Hiram growled.

Mikhail laughed cynically, followed by the three men standing behind Hiram. Hiram clenched his fist with anger. "Hiram, have you looked at who you're making deals with?" Mikhail smiled.

"I thought you were a reliable man..." Hiram frowned. The three men behind him started laughing again.

Mikhail grinned. "See? Even my men find that funny..."

"Mikhail... you can't do this to me..." Hiram hissed.

Mikhail took another drag and exhaled all the smoke, giving Hiram a blank stare. "Get rid of this scum, he's not of any use to us..."

"With pleasure" One of the men behind Hiram grinned.

Hiram widened his eyes and clenched his fist. He was angry, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. He extended his fist forward, and raised the middle finger as he shouted "F*CK YOU MIKHAIL!"

The laser bolt pierced cleanly through Hiram's nape. With the middle finger of his right hand still raised, Hiram's dead body fell on the floor with a loud thud.

Mikhail just stared at the body with the same blank expression, and took in a long drag from his cigarette.

"Toss the body to the sea..." Mikhail said.

"Yeah, I just wanna take his fancy jacket before that..." One of the men grinned and bent over the body to take the jacket.

"Hey, wait!" Another man growled. "I want his jacket too!"

"Hold on I also want it!" The other man growled.

"F*ck you I asked for it first!"

"That doesn't give you the right to keep it!"

"Yes it does!"

"Enough!" Mikhail hissed and took out a dice. "One and two you get it, three and four it's yours, five or six it's for ya!" He said as he pointed at the three men, and tossed the dice at one of them. "Now go away!"

"C'mon assholes, let's settle this away from the boss..." The man with the dice hissed and walked away. The other two grabbed Hiram's body and followed the first.

Mikhail watched the men leaving and when they were outta sight he took a drag from his cigarette, and exhaled the smoke out a little while after.

"What're you planning to do with me?" A weak voice asked.

"Mmm?" Mikhail hummed and glanced over his shoulder. Fox seemed to have woken up. "Hehe, had a good nap?"

"Answer my f*cking question..."

Mikhail frowned. "You're not too polite, are you?"

"And you're overwhelmingly polite, having me shackled to this wall..."

"Oh, that" Mikhail chuckled. "That was your little husky friend."

"Then why don't you unshackle me?"

Mikhail shook his head. "No, you look fine just like that..."

"Answer me, what're you planning to do with me?"

"Well..." Mikhail stared at Fox, and tilted his head to the left, as if he were thinking, and took a drag from his cigarette. "Crane told me such good ideas he was planning for you, but..." Mikhail walked closer to Fox. "Maybe I'll keep you, as the trophy you are..."

"Trophy..." Fox muttered.

"Yeah, a trophy. The mighty Fox McCloud, son of the legendary James McCloud, the best soldier this galaxy has ever seen..." Mikhail said. "The hero son of another hero, man it's a shame you're not going to leave a descendant..." He said. "I wonder if your son would've been like his father and grandfather..."

"I don't think I'll be having any son soon..." Fox sighed.

"Oh you probably have a lot out there..." Mikhail smirked.

"Huh?" Fox frowned. "What do you mean?"

Mikhail stared at Fox sceptically. "Are you telling me you never threw a leg in the air?" Mikhail grinned.

Fox shook his head. "Course not, I'm not that kind of jerk..."

"Hah! Believe it your grandma!"

"I'm serious..." Fox growled.

"Course you are..." Mikhail smiled. "I'm leaving you McCloud, I've got things to do..."

"Yeah, go f*ck yourself..." Fox hissed.

Mikhail laughed. "You're a funny guy, too bad you're gonna die..." He said as he walked away.

Fox hung his head and sighed. Never in his life he would've imagined he would end like this. It was against all the hopes he'd had for the future. But at least, his suffering would meet an end soon now.

* * *

X

* * *

Keith sighed. He'd been alone in that dark room for a long while now. He was bored and desperate. He had to find a way to escape.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a dark figure showed up on the door.

"Hey, you!" The man hissed.

"Well, it was about time you showed up Hiram!" Keith exclaimed.

"Hiram is dead" The man replied as he walked in. A hound, being followed by a lynx.

"What! What happened?"

"Boss' decision, now come, you're going to the cell block!" The lynx said. He started untying Keith's ropes while the hound aimed a rifle at his head from a safe distance.

"Cell block? But, what're you keeping me for? I mean, not that I'm not happy I'm gonna live, but-"

"Shut up, I don't know why either, he did the same with McCloud..." The lynx said. "Now put your hands forward"

"Fox! Where is he?" Keith asked as he did as the lynx said.

"In the cell block" The lynx replied and placed the handcuffs on Keith's hands. He grabbed Keith and forced him up.

"You go ahead..." The hound hissed and aimed his rifle at Keith from behind. He poked his back with the cannon of the rifle.

"Hey, hey! Fine!" Keith frowned and started walking. _'Dude these guys aren't any fun...'_

During the way to the cells block, guess what Keith was doing? Yeah, thinking of a way to escape.

_'Man what do I do? This pair doesn't seem too sharp, but what can I do? And is Fox alright? Man I can't leave him here. But I can't think of leaving him here if I ain't free too. But how do I get free? C'mon Keith think of something...'_

All the way he was looking for his chance. He wasn't able to find any. There was always something here or someone there which or who could ruin his intent of escape.

But perseverance pays off. He found his chance. When they were walking down a set of stairs inside the ship towards the cells block. The corridor below was narrow. And it seemed to be deserted. And also, it seemed like not too many people walked through it very often. If there was any chance, it was this.

Okay, he's got the scenario. And the plan? Ow, he forgot that. He'd to think of something. And fast.

_'Okay okay okay, now's your chance. The end of the corridor is far away, we're alone, this corridor is narrow and I excelled in CQC back in the war. But my hands are handcuffed and these friends have rifles. And they know they have to be sharp. Or do they? They must be bored and thinking about something. If I can catch them off guard, I'm free'_

Keith tried to remember his CQC training as a member of the Echo squadron. The couple of pirates were behind him. If he could have them besides, it would be only matter of skill. So he stopped slightly, hoping for the pirates to be too distracted to notice.

This made the couple to walk beside him. They noticed the stop, but it was too late. Keith used his body to slam one of the pirates on the left wall, and quickly kicked the other on the ribs at the same time, slamming him on the right wall, too.

The left one dropped his rifle and yelped. Luckily for Keith he didn't seem like a tough dude. He slammed his knee on the poor man's head and knocked him out cold.

Without time to lose, Keith turned his attention to the one on the right. He hadn't dropped the rifle, but Keith was doing things quickly, and the man was still sore from the kick on the ribs. Keith quickly kicked the rifle off from the man's hands and kneed him on the stomach. Now the man fell down. And it was then when Keith slammed his foot violently on the man's head.

Keith gazed at both men, lying unconsciously on the floor.

"Hell yeah! Keith you've still got it!" Keith laughed. _'Now, what to do with these?' _Keith thought as he stared at his handcuffs. _'Oh yesh dah kee..." _Keith mocked at himself mentally and rolled his eyes.

He frisked the lynx and found the keys. Then he struggled to unlock the handcuffs. It gave him some problems since the handcuffs were too close to each other because of the short chain, but he eventually managed to unlock them.

He stood up while massaging his wrists. "Easy enough. Now for the orange guy!" He said and picked up one of the rifles on the floor.

He gave a couple steps forward then stopped dryly. He stood still for a few seconds then glanced over his shoulders. The pair of idiots meant a potential risk to his escaping efforts. He returned with the pair of pirates, took the handcuffs and dragged them behind the stairs. It was dark below them, so there were little chances of someone spotting them.

Below the stairs Keith found something he thought funny: Mops, sweepers, ropes and cleaning cloths. Funny because the ship was a dirty as sh*t. _'Maybe they're ornaments...' _Keith chuckled mentally.

He found a good use for the ropes and cloths. He tied the couple together and gagged them with the cloths. Just for an added precaution, he handcuffed their hands together.

Satisfied that the pair wouldn't be giving problems anytime soon, as long as nobody walked through there, he returned to his tracks towards the cell block, in hope that he might find Fox somewhere, and alive.

Using the directional letter boards placed alongside the walls, Keith guided his way towards the cell block. He opened the door inside the cell block and walked inside quietly and silently.

He gazed around. The block was conformed by a series of corridors, which had the so called cells on the sides. The place was so rusted, dark and creepy that it scratched the cliché. Still, he wasn't surprised, these kind of men were anything but tidy, let alone careful and even loner clean, but he wasn't there to check on their sanity methods anyway. He was there for his friend.

Keith trotted and stopped at a corner, and putted his back against it. Since this was a pirate ship, there were surely scarce, if not absolutely no prisoners, and therefore probably no prison guards. But as he'd said before, there wasn't any unnecessary precaution.

He peeked his head out and glanced at the blackened-by-dirt corridor. Just as he'd suspected, the place was deserted. He continued his way through the corridor, gazing at the cells on the sides as he advanced, looking for the orange fox.

He was about to reach another corner when he heard someone whistling a song. He stopped at the corner and putted his back against it.

He breathed deeply and silently as he analyzed the whistle. When he was sure the whistler was right beside him, he grabbed his rifle from it's cannon and smashed it's butt on the whistler's muzzle with all the strength his old and rusted arms could have.

WHACK! The butt hit the dog's muzzle with a cracking, painful sound and a short and muted yelp. The German Sheppard almost did a back flip. He flew backwards about half a meter and fell on the floor loudly.

"Ouch..." Keith muttered as he stared at the unconscious dog, wondering if he was dead or not. _'Did I hit him too hard?'_. Convinced that he wasn't going to wake up soon, he resumed his search, not before picking up his rifle. It might come in handy for Fox later on.

Apparently Keith had been right on his guess about the prison guards. The prison was deserted. The German Sheppard he'd just ran into was probably just taking a shortcut when he crossed ways with Keith. Still, he'd have to be careful, as that wasn't probably the only guard who took the prison as a shortcut.

"Fox..." Keith called out as he crept up the corridor, switching his sight from side to side, looking for the vulpine. "Fox..."

"Nghh..."

"Huh?" Keith gasped and readied his rifle. The sound had came from a certain cell ahead. He walked slowly towards it and glanced inside it.

"The hell?" Keith frowned when he saw Fox shackled to the wall of the cell. "Fox, buddy, you okay?"

Fox raised his gaze, and a slight smile crossed his lips when he saw Keith. "Keith, what took you so long...?"

"Hey man I thought you were the hero here!" Keith chuckled. He switched his attention to the cell's lock.

Fox laughed slightly. "No longer..."

Keith struggled to open the lock but had no success. "Aw man, cover your eyes, I'm gonna shoot this thing open..." Keith hissed and aimed his rifle at the lock.

Fox closed his eyes tightly then Keith fired. Few sparkles flew away, some landed on Fox, slightly singeing his fur.

Few shots later, the door receded and Keith slid it open. He walked up to Fox and gazed at the shackles.

"Boy, you don't happen to know where the key is, do you?" Keith asked.

"How would I know that?" Fox frowned.

"Okay, but we need a way of opening these..." Keith said and pointed at one of the shackles.

"Don't even think of shooting them..." Fox widened his eyes.

Keith just shook his head slowly, closely examining the shackles. "Wait..." Keith said. "They look really rusted..." He commented. "If they're rusted enough, then maybe I can break them open..."

"And what're you waiting for?" Fox asked.

"I'm on it..." Keith said and picked the rifle. He grabbed it from it's cannon and middle body and started smashing the butt on the shackles.

Thankfully, the shackle started to move. "Hey, it's working!" Keith smiled excitedly and continued smashing the shackle.

"Have a little carefulness, it hurts!" Fox snarled.

"Just hang in there Foxie..." Keith replied and continued on.

3 Shackles later...

"Just one more..." Keith said as he smashed Fox left hand's shackle. It cracked and separated from the wall. "There we go!"

Fox retracted his hand as the shackle fell and massaged his wrist. "Oh this'll hurt for a couple days..." He hissed.

"C'mon Foxie there is no time for complains..." Keith said and threw the spare rifle he'd picked up earlier at Fox. Fox caught it in midair. "Now let's get the f*ck outta here..."

"I'm with ya..." Fox said and readied his rifle. Keith took the lead and Fox followed him out.

The way back out was just as safe as the way in. They passed through the same corridor where Keith had pulled his super-duper-hyper-mega-ultra getting-free-from-the-baddies super stunt. He was glad to see the couple was still out cold. Before going on, they took the men's raincoats and putted them on, maybe they'd help them hide their faces with the hoods, aside from protecting them from the rain.

"Man what did Hiram want you for?" Keith asked as they advanced through a corridor.

"Something about selling my head..." Fox replied.

"Selling your head?" Keith smirked. "How much money did he think he could make? Ten cents?"

"Thank you..." Fox said sarcastically. "And what about you? What did he want with you?"

"Tss, man..." Keith huffed. "Remember what I told you about the battle on Fichina?" Keith asked.

"Uh-huh"

"Well, it turns out he recognized me..." Keith frowned.

"The hell? How could he, if you were wearing helmets back then?"

"With the cheapest thing on the world: He recognized my watch..."

"He recognized you by your watch?" Fox narrowed his eyebrows.

"Yeah man, I've been wearing that watch since my son gave it to me as a birthday gift..."

"And how could he even tell you were the same person back then?"

"That's what's been bugging me, I don't think he was sure..." Keith said as he shook his head. "And I was stupid enough not to deny it, he might have given up on it..."

"Well, sorry for ya..." Fox said. "And where's the watch?"

"Son of a b*tch took it from me and didn't return it!" Keith hissed.

"Well I wouldn't hope on getting it back anytime soon, Hiram was killed..."

"Really? That's what he gets for taking my son's watch from me!" Keith mocked. Fox just chuckled and continued his way towards the main deck.

Finally, after a good while, they were out on the main deck. Luckily or unluckily, because there were some pirates strolling around, even despite of the rain. Fox and Keith walked silently and hid behind a crate.

"Got a plan?" Fox asked.

"Man I was hoping you might have one!" Keith exclaimed in a low tone.

Fox huffed and bit his lip. "Okay, we need to escape without being spotted..."

"Which won't be hard with this rain storm going on..."

"We need a life boat, have you seen any?"

"What about that one?" Keith said and pointed at a black boat about fifteen meters away, on the starboard side.

"Looks like our best choice..." Fox said and started advancing towards the boat, followed by Keith.

The way towards the boat was amazingly easy, with so few pirates around and a lot of stolen crates and containers to hide behind, it took them almost no time to reach the boat.

"Help me out with this thing..." Keith said as he placed his rifle on his back, jumped on the boat and untied the boat from one side.

"Sure..." Fox said as he did the same as Keith and started untying the boat from the other side.

Few moments later the boat was loosened.

"Take a seat..." Fox said.

Keith sat on the boat's bottom and then released the ropes on Fox's signal. The boat rapidly fell down onto the water, shaking them on the touchdown.

"Okay, let's start this thing..." Fox said as he pulled the cord to start the boat's engine. Amazingly enough, it roared to life on the very first pull. He took the steering handle and led the boat away from the pirate vessel, taking a contrary direction.

"Dude do you know in which direction Corneria is?" Keith asked.

"Nope..." Fox said. He had his eyes narrowed to prevent sea water from entering his eyelids.

"Wait, we're traveling blindly?" Keith asked uneasily.

"No, we're traveling away from those guys..." Fox replied and motioned his head towards the pirate vessel.

"Huh, guess that works..." Keith huffed. He loosened his shoulders but tension came back to them when a laser bolt struck the water few meters away from the boat.

"Man!" Keith gasped and pointed at the black vessel.

Fox glanced back at it and saw a light on the edge of the aft deck, probably the pirate who had spotted them and his lantern. He could also see various red sparkling lights, which meant they were firing at them.

"Don't worry Keith, we're leaving them behind!" Fox smirked and returned his sight forward.

"I don't think so..." Keith frowned as he picked his rifle and started firing behind Fox.

Fox lowered his head. "Man what're you doing!" Fox frowned but then he glanced back and saw a couple of boats following them from behind. "Oh you gotta be sh*tting me!"

"Yes, I know!" Keith said and continued firing. He seemed skillful enough to hit a few marks, while the pirates seemed to completely lack of marksmanship, though it was most likely the fact that they were too far away. Despite that, they had hit their boat a few times now, and Fox was worried about that. Random shooting often paid off some success.

"How's it going?" Fox asked.

"Great! These losers seems to have never learned to handle a gun!" Keith chuckled and continued firing, occasionally swapping the clip with one of those he brought with them. "You keep on with that Foxie, I'll handle these guys!" He said.

Fox wasn't really sure whether they might make it or not. The storm seemed to be gaining strength, it would be a miracle to reach the shore in one piece. And that added to the fact that a group of pirates were stalking them, survival chances dropped dramatically. But it was when he engine was shot, when Fox's hopes fell to the ground.

"Sons of a buncha b*tches!" Fox roared.

"You angry Foxie?" Keith chuckled. "Stop crying and help me out here!"

Fox quickly picked up his rifle and started firing against the couple boats that were stalking them. Aiming was the hardest thing in world, the waves shook the boat way too much for some precise aiming, and that was the reason that had been keeping them alive. But not for much longer.

"Unghh!" Keith yelped, dropped his rifle and fell down into the sea. A laser bolt had pierced his chest.

With a loud splashing sound, which was muted by the sound of both the waves, wind and rain, Fox shockingly saw how Keith fell down into the water and sunk.

"KEITH!" Fox exclaimed and tried to grab Keith before he fell off from the boat but then a laser bolt flew past his hand for just a few centimeters and he retracted it. "Crap!"

Fox continued repelling the fire, with the fact of Keith sinking deeper into the sea biting him on the side. Luckily, they had taken out one of the pirate boats and there was only one remaining, which Fox took out with a lot of problem.

As soon as the pirates were dead, Fox tossed his rifle aside and peeked out at the sea beneath his boat. "Keith!" Fox shouted. He tried to look for his friend inside the water, but it was just too dark.

"Keith!" Fox repeated, trying vainly to spot his friend down on the water. He couldn't jump down and look for him, with the storm going on, it was a suicide. "C'mon Keith this isn't funny!" Fox said unstably. Nothing.

"Sh*t..." Fox sighed and let himself fall on the boat's floor. The storm continued violently, the big waves shook the boat annoyingly. Fox putted on the hood of the raincoat and huffed. He was alone now. Again. Alone, in the middle of the sea on a boat without motor, traveling on the derive. He hugged himself to keep some heat and closed his eyes, decided to try to sleep. What else could he do now, but to try and get some rest, anyway?

* * *

**So, how was it? I've to say I'm not too proud of this chapter, but, it's okay overall, isn't it? For now that's all, I hope you liked it and please leave a review, PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! NO REVIEWS EQUAL TO NO UPDATES!  
**

*******ConGie, if you read this again, you might have noticed the elimination of a scene and the addition of another scene. That's a modification that came to my mind after I sent you the chap, so I hope it hasn't any errors.**

***That little error Cheesebomb30 pointed out has been corrected. Thanks buddy.  
**


	7. The pier

**Awwww man DX Mexico lost to Uruguay! Good thing is that we advanced to the next round, but now we're up against Argentina, who is surely going to wipe the floor with us. I just hope we can overcome the obstacle, otherwise we're out!  
Oh, and, have you seen the Nintendo new handheld "3DS" that's going to come out next year? It looks fantastic! By the sound of it it's surely gonna K.O. any other handhelds in the market! Take a look at it! It's in Nintendo's E3 page!  
Yes I know I trailed off there. Okay, the seventh chapter is here! Thanks to my BR ConGie for those small touches he gave to the chapter, they really make it better. I have to say this is one of those chapters you'll either love or hate, I really hope it turns out the first. Anyway, read it and tell me what you thought. And please enjoy!

* * *

**North of Corneria capital city, 8:40 pm.

A dark, clouded, massive sky stretched itself above the entire city. The thick clouds completely eclipsed the moon, making this particular night darker than others. It was raining fiercely, massively and constantly, almost as if the sky was falling down upon the city's many inhabitants.

A man in a dark raincoat walked slowly along the seawall. His boots made splashing sounds as he stepped on the enormous puddles made by rain. The racing wind blew into his ears, making it harder to hear things around him. The waves on the sea to his left were as ferocious as anyone would ever think to see. People ran around, from there to here, from here to there, some with umbrellas above them, raincoats or even newspapers. There was the occasional kid running around in the rain, the occasional wanderer who was finally taking a bath, and even the occasional lovers kissing below the rain, as if they couldn't wait until they were away from other's sights.

"Hm..." Fox frowned at the kissing couple. So much love, isn't it? Well, just wait until she gets sick of you and dumps you. Then you'll see what that 'love' really was. See how she forgets you and retreats into the arms of another man, leaving you hopeless and frustrated. See how she turns her head away from you, when you go to her, begging for her to come back to you, begging for her forgiveness, humiliating yourself in sight of everyone, uselessly, because she has no love for ya, poor idiot. You'll see...

Hey! Hey Foxie! What're you thinking about? Why are you still tormenting yourself with that? Wasn't it enough with feeling guilty every day and night of the last eleven months? Wasn't it enough with what you saw from her the last time? Why do you still do that? Why do you worry about someone who doesn't reciprocates your concern? Someone who had shown she has nothing for you? Plus, you've got a task to perform my friend, you forgot about that?

Fox raised his gaze at the sky, and the wind blew off his hood from his head. The raindrops now fell strongly on his face, as he stared long into the dark sky, reminiscing about what his life had become of these last months.

That first day, when he discovered the truth about what _she _had done, he'd stayed inside his room, on his bed, his body burning with grief and deception. His old, blue friend had tried to bring him back from his death, but he had no success. He'd left days after that, seeing how his friend neglected to forget the incident, the person.

Days of barely eating or sleeping, walking, hearing, seeing, feeling, living.

Months after that, he'd stated his retirement to the Cornerian Government, to whom he'd lent his things for good use.

All of the next days he'd been wasting his money, his time and his life in alcohol. Constant hangovers degraded him from a honorable and well-respected mercenary, to a worthless and useless drunkard, to whom no one paid respect.

And that very morning he'd lost all of his friends, in the hands of a stupid, avaricious brat. He lived only because he was lucky enough to have the boat he'd escaped on from the pirate ship dragged to the shore by the waves.

What a waste. In less than a year all his hopes and dreams had crumbled down. Months of constant pain and feelings of guilt had led him to this.

That afternoon he'd come to the decision to end it all. A blaster pistol in his pocket, determination in his eyes...

* * *

X

* * *

North of Corneria capital city, 8:40 pm.

At the lighthouse...

Outside the lighthouse a certain coated, blue furred vixen stood staring at the sea. She was wearing a dark raincoat to protect herself from the rain. But there was nothing that could hide her from her grief. That morning she'd woken up feeling the same way she'd been feeling these last two weeks.

But how could that be possible? Why couldn't she forget about that? Why did she still feel grieved about it? How big had been her mistake?

Big enough.

She'd spent that day just as she'd spent the others, trying to forget. But as much as she struggled to forget about that, she just couldn't. She'd been so close...

That night she'd decided to take a walk below the rain. She'd always loved the rain since she was a little kid, it always brought her calmness and quietness.

But over all things, she wanted to think about what course her life had taken since that fateful day.

She walked off away from the lighthouse, and took her way across the shore, towards the pier in the distance, thinking about what happened, and what she had to do.

Why did it all happen in the first instance? Why couldn't she reach him that day? Was it bad luck?

She really hoped it to be. Although she couldn't help but to think, that maybe it just should never happen.

Life had separated her from whom she loved the most, and had been doing everything to keep them away from each other.

Was it that they were never destined to be together?

Krystal sighed deeply. That was an awful thing to think. But then again, maybe it was true. Maybe they should never be together.

Maybe, she had to completely forget about him. Try to make a new life, and forget about her past one. It was so hard to start a third new life, but she had to do it, for her own sake.

But where to start? Maybe going away from that place. Leave the city. Leave Corneria. Go somewhere else, where she could forget about everything.

She wouldn't return to the hotel that night. She would leave immediately.

_'What hour is it?' _Krystal thought. Then, she saw someone walking down onto the pier further forward. Maybe he knew what hour was it...

* * *

X

* * *

Fox walked down the stairs to the pier. No one was in sight, no one he could see at least, so no one would witness the end of the so called hero. He walked up to the end of the wooden pier, and gazed at the sea.

That was it. That was the end. That was the end he'd chosen. It had taken him a lot of mental struggling to finally come to this decision. There was nothing left for him. He had nothing, no one. No one cared about him, and there was no one for him to care about. Life seemed to glare at him wherever he went, and to take everything from him, wherever he went. He couldn't afford that. He wasn't going to live like that. He put on his hood and continued staring into the sea.

Fox slowly drew out the blaster from his pocket. He held it in front of him, still staring at the dark sea. He slowly closed his eyes shut...

_'Father... if... if you can hear me, please... please, give me a signal that this is not the right decision... please...'_

The wind continued it's harassment as the waves crashed against the the wooden planks beneath him. But no sign came.

Fox sighed deeply. _'I guess that means...' _He slowly raised the blaster and held it below his chin. He still had his eyes closed. He placed his finger on the pistol's trigger, where it shivered with tension.

He still had the doubt. Was it the only choice left? Maybe. What would people would say? "McCloud died, how sad..." And then they'd continue with their lives as if nothing had happened.

What would his old friends think? Well, if they cared enough for him, maybe they should've tried to lift him up a little at first, instead of forgetting about him.

Fox took a deep sigh and gripped firmly the pistol's grip. He loosened the tension on the trigger. That was it. That was the end.

_'Here I come, dad and mom...'_

"Hey mister!"

"Hmph!" Fox gasped and hid the blaster. He turned his head lightly to the left, "Yeah?"

...

Krystal stared at the dark coated man on the pier. She couldn't tell what species he was - his raincoat completely hid his body and head. "Sorry, did I scare you mister?" Krystal asked.

"No..." The man replied, still not looking at her. "Can I help ya?"

Krystal stared at the man who refused to turn at her. She couldn't help noticing something familiar about the man. "Do I know you?" She asked.

...

"I don't think so..." Fox replied. "Was there anything I could do for you, lady?"

...

Krystal tried to check what was in the man's mind. She was surprised to find grief, confusion, and exasperation. "Uh... I, I wanted to know the hour..."

...

Fox glanced at his watch on his left wrist. "Eight fifty-nine..." He replied.

...

Krystal sighed. With this weather and the hour, her trip outta the planet would have to wait till tomorrow. She switched her attention back to the coated man, who seemed to be irradiating confusion.

...

Fox lifted his gaze and stared at the sky again. Was that the signal he'd asked for? Maybe it was! He looked back down and gazed at the hand holding the blaster. That'd been so close...

...

"Hey mister..." Krystal called out, noticing the man's apparent letdown mood.

"Yeah?" The man replied in a bit less melancholic tone than before.

"Is something wrong?" Krystal asked.

...

Fox sighed and raised his gaze back at the dark sky. "Nah... it's just... I was going to toss something into the sea..." And saying this, he glanced at the pistol. A very slight smile crossed his lips. "But, I think I've decided to keep it..."

...

Krystal sighed. "Lucky you, for changing your mind before doing it. I hope I could've decided to keep... something I had, before tossing it away, mindlessly..." She said sadly.

"Hm, I'm sure you'll be able to recover it..."

Krystal shook her head. "Nah, I doubt it..."

...

"Anything can be... I'm sure..." Fox said while gazing at the sky, pensively.

...

Krystal gazed at the coated man. His identity still bugged her. But even if she tried to read the man's thoughts, she'd only find he was thinking about the sea. She hoped for him to turn around, but he just didn't.

Krystal shook her head. It wasn't any business of her. She wasn't going to disturb him in his reflections, either. He surely had plenty to think about, and she hated to be intrusive. "Okay... bye mister, thank you, and, good night..." Krystal said as she turned around and walked up the stairs leading to the seawall.

...

"Okay... bye mister, thank you, and, good night.."

Just as these words were heard Fox turned around to see who was that woman he'd been talking to, but he was a sad to see she'd turned and walked away. He stared at the coated figure walking away. She turned left on the seawall and walked off towards the hotel zone.

Fox turned back his sight at the sea. He glanced at the pistol, and with all the strength he had, he tossed it into the sea. "Never... ever..." He said as he turned back and walked away.

* * *

**For those of you who are wondering, the boat where Fox ended up the last chapter was dragged to shore by the waves, that's how he got out, and this takes place that same day but at night (Because if you remember, last chapter's events took place at dawn). To be honest, I can foresee many people getting angry at me for not turning Fox around in there. All I have to say is that I already have a set path for the story here. Okay, for now that was all, sorry if it wasn't what you expected, and please, leave a review with your comments and/or thoughts. Pay attention there, I WANT to know what you think, even if you're gonna ruthlessly criticize it, I wanna know what you think. Only thing is that if you're going to talk bad things, be sure to leave some constructive criticism.  
Another thing, my BR is going to take a internet-free trip somewhere around the world (or at least the US), for what I caught he's gonna be away for around three weeks, so if someone could do me the favor of substituting him while he's gone, two things will happen: The next chapter won't take SOOOOO long to be up and I'm gonna be very grateful to whoever took ConGie's place in his absence. If U R interested send me a PM.  
That's all, see ya later!**

***Beta-Reader substitute found. Identity? When the next chapter's up!  
**


	8. A helping hand

**This morning I woke up when I heard my little sister shouting. I walked out of my bedroom and saw her watching Dora The Explorer. I decided to watch it too, and sat on the couch by her side. You should have seen me, trying to suppress my laughter everytime Dora asked something and my sister replied, like Dora could hear her. She even shouted "Swiper, no swiping!" (In spanish obviously) when swiper the fox attempted to swipe Boots' red boot. You should have seen her, it was really funny, and I bet she was having fun, too. You know, I've been really sad since Argentina eliminated Mexico in the World Cup tournament. Not because they lost but because how they lost, with two of the worst errors I've ever seen in a Soccer game. Fortunately, writing is one of those things that makes me forget the bad things of life. Here's the story's eighth chapter, please enjoy it.  


* * *

**

Two months later…

Cornerian Capital city, Walsh Spaceport, 11:01 am.

In one of the edges of the massive capital city, the Walsh spaceport worked as exit and entry points for the ships traveling to and from Corneria. No ship could land on the planet's surface but on a spaceport. Ships of all sizes and kinds took off from and landed on the huge spaceport, one of the most important in the Cornerian capital. Space transporters, cruisers, starfighters, all in their respective sections, landing and taking off at their respectively scheduled hours.

A certain, relatively small transport ship landed on its by-radio given pad, slowly and carefully. Wind and dust flew everywhere as the small vessel approached the ground. Few moments later after its landing its door opened, and a group of five soldiers, dressed like high rank officers walked out. They stopped not too far from the ship and gazed around, then back at the vessel. Moments later a bulldog and a black, relatively old-looking husky walked out from the same ship, neither of them dressed as soldiers, instead pretty casual, dark colors shirts, tennis shoes and jeans.

The bulldog, who was also sporting a jacket, took a deep breath of fresh air and exhaled. "Ahh, I missed this place..." He said as both he and the husky started walking towards the main building. The group of officers they'd came with walked back inside the ship, no dismissing nor anything.

"You did?" The husky asked and raised an eyebrow. He shortly glanced back at the military ship when it took off, then back again at the Bulldog.

"Yeah! You didn't?"

"Boy I don't even know how much time we spent out… two months? Three?"

"You could say that…" The bulldog replied. "We're finally back…"

"Yeah, but still in the business" The husky smirked.

"Awww..." The bulldog sighed downheartedly. "You had to bring that up…"

The husky laughed. "C'mon lil' Billy, we're already close to end this, after all"

"Hm, I guess you're right Carson…" Bill huffed. "Where are we going to go now?"

"The State Prison..." Carson replied.

"Ah yes, I forgot..." Bill said.

"You don't say..." Carson said as he rolled his eyes.

They crossed through the main building and out from the spaceport, not before completing the routine paperwork related to their entrance in to the planet.

When they were outside, they saw a black hovercar parked right in front of the entrance.

"Is that the car?" Bill asked.

"I guess it is." Carson shrugged. "Let's see..." He said as he approached it and thrusted a key inside the car door's keyhole, and turned it.

The door clicked and opened. "Yes, this is it..." Carson smiled as he entered the driver's seat.

Bill opened the cockpit's door and entered it. "Well, let's be off then..." He said as he buckled his seatbelt.

"Hold on a little, I wanna go to check on my house first." Carson said and started the engine.

"Oh yes!" Bill exclaimed. "I gotta go check on my apartment too!"

"Didn't you leave the doorkeeper on its care?" Carson asked as he took a steer left and towards the spaceport exit.

"Yeah I just gotta check if he's done it right." Bill chuckled.

Carson drove his way across the capital city, in it's way to drop Bill at his apartment. The ride didn't last long before they arrived there. Carson parked the car right in front of the ten floor tall building.

Bill opened the car's door and stepped out, then closed it and leaned on the window. "When are you gonna pick me up?" He asked.

Carson took a few seconds to think. "I'd say thirty minutes, we're not hasty are we?"

"I guess..." Bill nodded. "Okay then, see ya later..." He said and patted the car's roof. Carson just made a dismissing signal with his hand and took off from the place.

Bill waited until Carson was out of sight, then walked inside the building. The first thing he met was a small lobby, a huge set of stairs and a young-looking chihuahua, sitting on a chair beside the stairway with his legs stretched forward, his hands on his belly, his head hanging and snoring.

Bill chuckled slightly and walked up to the dog, then playfully smacked his head.

"Que pedo!" The dog exclaimed as his eyes shot wide open, and thrashed on the chair, confused by the sudden hit. His thrashing eventually made him fall off the chair.

Bill just laughed at the disoriented dog. "Ya levantate huevon!" He laughed.

The dog looked up to him and smiled when he saw him. "Señor Bill, long time no see you!" He exclaimed.

"Mario, que tal te va?" Bill asked and lent a hand to Mario. Mario smiled and took it, then Bill pulled him up on his feet.

"No pos aqui nomas cuidando su casita, how did your trip go?"

"Good, thanks for asking, how's my place?" Bill smiled. He started walking upstairs and Mario followed behind him.

"Very fine if I must say so..." Mario chuckled.

"Did anything happen while I was gone?"

"Pues... hm, nothing new, I think..." Mario said while scratching his head.

Bill glanced shortly at him. Mario wasn't famous for his good memory. "You sure?" He asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, aside from some things I saw on the news a while ago..."

"Well then, tell me what you saw on the news."

"Ok, you knew who was Sergei Kamov, that senator?"

"Mm-hm," Bill replied. "What's with him?"

"He was assassinated a few weeks ago..." Mario said and raised his eyebrows.

"Really? Hmph, that's too bad..." Bill said. "Have they found the killer already?"

Mario shook his head. "Nope, they even dropped the search for lack of clues, they say."

"Heh, how competent they are... anything else?"

"Yeah, one of the freighters of the White Corporation was sunk by pirates, how does that sound?" Mario asked inquiringly. "Isn't this a crazy world?"

"Hell it is!" Bill said.

They stopped when they reached apartment number 07. "Here's your key mister Bill..." Mario said as he drew out a silvery key and handed it to Bill.

"Thanks" Bill said as he picked the key. He thrust it inside the keyhole and turned it. He opened the door and glanced at the inside of his apartment, then walked in, looking all over the place. Mario stayed outside the apartment.

The apartment consisted in a small living room, with a sofa and two couches, a small table with a cheap TV set on it, a kitchen to the left of the entrance, with a stove, a fridge, and a bar, two bedrooms on the bottom, and a bathroom beside one of the bedrooms.

"Well, everything looks alright..." Bill said as he tossed the keys on the small table of the living room.

"You bet." Mario said. "Tell me if you find something out of order!" He said as he walked away and closed the door behind him.

"Okay, thanks!" Bill said.

Just when Mario closed the door Bill let himself fall on the room's couch and let out a deep sigh. Five hours of travel had rendered him exhaust, most psychologically than physically. Five hours of traveling with nothing to do... that's boring, I tell you. He closed his eyes, sighed deeply, and fell asleep before he could notice.

...

Bill's eyes snapped open as he felt how his pocket hummed and vibrated. He reached a hand inside it and took out his cell phone. He pressed the answer button.

"Hello?" He asked sleepily.

"Where are you William? I'm waiting for you just outside your apartment!"

"What?" Bill asked and narrowed his eyebrows.

"Hurry up, we're gonna lose our interrogation!"

"Oh, uh, yeah yeah, I'm on my way!" Bill said when he completely woke up. He saved his keys and wallet inside his pockets and rushed outside the apartment.

...

Carson started the engine just as he saw Bill come out of the building. He made signals to Bill for him to hurry up. Bill trotted up to the car's right door, opened it and sat on the seat, then closed the door again.

"Just about time..." Carson huffed as he took off from the place.

"Sorry..." Bill yawned. "I fell asleep..."

"I can see that..." Carson said. "We'll be lucky if they still let us interrogate the guy..."

"Just drive and cross your fingers..." Bill said as he switched his sight outside the window.

* * *

X

* * *

Forty minutes of driving later...

Bill sighed deeply in boredom as the wind blew through the fur of his head, which was outside the car's window. During the last twenty minutes all he'd been seeing were just road and trees, as they drove their way towards the State Prison. It was even worse than driving through the city, because he could sometimes see on the streets something colorful, something funny, and even something sexy.

"Man how far is that damn prison?" Bill hissed.

Carson yawned. "We're already close to it, don't be hasty..." He sighed.

Bill accommodated himself in the cockpit's seat, closed his eyes and reclined back. "Who's the guy we're going to interrogate, again?"

"Why do you always ask things you've been already told about?" Carson sighed and shook his head.

"Just answer man, I'm trying not to die of boredom here..." Bill hummed as he placed his hands on his nape.

Carson huffed. "Josiah Feldspar, William..." He replied.

"Continue on, I forgot about the entire briefing..." Bill said.

Carson sighed deeply. "He's the weapons dealer who was selling weapons to the insurrection, remember?"

"Ah yes, now I remember..."

"We're going to try to get him to spill some info about the insurgency." Carson said.

Bill hissed. "Man I don't know why we even do care about those kids. I mean, they're not even organized, they don't have weaponry, they haven't done anything-"

"We're not going to wait until they organize and arm themselves and strike, William..." Carson interrupted Bill.

Bill sighed. "Guess you have a point there..."

Carson nodded a couple times and then he saw something. "Heads up William, we've arrived..." He announced.

Bill straightened himself up and gazed forward. The gray, big, ugly prison started showing itself above the hill they were driving to it. It was an apparent square building, four tall walls on each side, and four even taller vigilance towers on each corner. Above and across every wall was what looked like barbed wire, which also appeared to be electrified. The entrance of the prison was a huge gate with two fence doors. On either side of the gate were what looked like armed guards.

"Just about time..." Bill huffed.

The guards outside the prison saw and stared at the hovercar approaching near the entrance suspiciously. Carson drove up to the gate and was stopped by the guards. One of them, a raccoon, walked up to his window and leaned on the door. "What can I help ya with buddy?" The guard asked.

Carson smacked Bill's shoulder. Bill replied with a quick glare and handed him a couple papers, which Carson handed to the guard. "We're here to interrogate prisoner 930901 sir..." Carson said while the guard examined the documents meticulously.

"Ah, yes, the appointment with Mr. Feldspar..." The guard grinned as he handed the papers back to Carson a few moments later. "You can pass." The guard said and waved his hand to the men on the gate. They got the message and opened the gate's doors. "Give Mr. Feldspar my greetings..." The guard smiled.

"Will do." Carson said hypocritically and smirked back at the guard, then drove inside the prison's parking lot. The guard wasn't bright enough to notice the sarcasm in Carson's smile and just waved his hand at them.

Carson didn't lose time looking for a place to park and just parked in the first spot he saw. The pair stepped out of the car and walked towards the prison main entrance.

Inside, they were greeted by another guard. "Can I help you?" The hound asked. The prison security uniforms weren't the latest fashion in security uniforms but they seemed somewhat appropriate. The hound didn't seem like he was armed at first, but Bill quickly noticed a discreet blaster holstered on the hound's right hip.

"We're here to interrogate prisoner 930901." Carson said as he showed the hound the papers he'd shown to the guard at the gate.

"Ah, yes, we've been waiting for you..." The hound said while staring at the papers. He handed them back to Carson. "Follow me..."

The pair nodded and followed the hound through the prison's corridors.

The prison's corridors were surprisingly clean for a prison, though they weren't impeccable either. Enough lights scattered throughout the corridors to keep them from being dark and creepy. Through their way they walked past a few scattered guards; whom either ignored them or stared at them like some kind of freaks. Neither Bill nor Carson cared about them and just continued their way to... wherever the hound was leading them.

Suddenly, the loudspeakers in the corridors buzzed into life. "Attention everybody: we've got a fight on the yard, repeat: there's a fight going on the yard." The voice announced.

"Aw crap!" The hound snarled and sprinted through the passageway.

Bill and Carson were quick to follow suit. It took them almost nothing to reach a double set of doors with windows on them, through which the yard was visible.

Bill saw a whole crowd of men dressed in dressed in orange clothing surrounding something. The hound kicked to doors open and sprinted towards the crowd while shouting, "Hey! Hey! Move out the way!", followed by Bill and Carson.

The crowd didn't give the hound any room to pass through, but Bill was quick to push every one of the blocking prisoners aside. When he got to the center of the place, he saw a raccoon pinned down on the floor by another man, apparently a fox, who was over him, holding the coon's chest with one hand and repeatedly punching him on the face with the other, while roaring: "Say that again! Just dare to say that again you f*ckhead!"

Bill quickly ran towards the attacking man and grabbed his arm before he could land another blow into the coon's face. "Hold it!"

"Let go of me!" The fox barked and jerked his arm away from Bill, then tried to punch him too, but stopped dryly before he could connect the hit. His ears perked up and his eyes shot wide open, while he shockingly stared at Bill. "B-Bill?"

Bill narrowed his eyes and looked at the fox. It took him a split second to recognize him. "Fox?" He asked astonished.

SMACK! Fox fell aside on the ground, and the raccoon leaped on him and started punching him repeatedly. "Take this bastard!"

Bill wasn't going to just watch how his friend got beaten up. He quickly drew out a blaster pistol and threateningly aimed it at the raccoon. "STOP!" He growled menacingly. Each and every one of the prisoners surrounding them quickly retreated with fear.

The raccoon glanced at him just once before he dropped his ears and stopped beating Fox. He raised his hands and started getting up, slowly. It wasn't long before the hound guard reached to him and submitted him, with the help of another guard. They started ordering the prisoners to scatter and continue with their activities. Every one of the cons did as they were told and abandoned the site of the fight. Then the guards led the raccoon inside the penitentiary, leaving Fox behind with Bill.

Bill sighed, holstered his weapon and gazed at Fox, who quickly raised himself up and assumed a sitting position on the floor, staring at the nothingness with a blank expression. Bill started walking towards him, and stopped beside him.

For several seconds neither of them said nothing. Bill was really confused and in advance disappointed to see Fox in a prison. That was the last place he could've ever imagined or hoped to see Fox in.

And Fox, he was being eaten alive by shame. There, standing at scarce forty centimeters from him, was his old childhood friend Bill. He'd known him since elementary school, and he'd been his best and closest friend during those days. Certainly, destiny had parted their ways, but a true friendship is never forgotten, is it?

"Fox..." Bill said. Only hearing those words were enough to make Fox cringe. He didn't want to talk to him. He was too ashamed to speak. "Fox, what, what happened?" Bill asked.

Fox sighed and slowly turned his head at Bill. He faked a smile. "Um, hi, Bill... good to see you..." Fox said and lowered his head.

Bill opened his arms inquiringly, "Fox, what's going on? Why are you here?"

Fox's body cringed, and sighed. But he didn't say anything.

Bill's mouth opened slightly, as he stared at the ashamed vulpine with confusion.

"William" Bill heard Carson call him out. He turned his head at him. "What are you doing? Do you know this man?" Carson asked and pointed at Fox.

Bill nodded. "He's... he's an old friend of mine..." Bill replied.

"Are you going to help me interrogate Feldspar?" Carson asked.

"Oh, um... you, you go ahead without me, I have plenty to talk about with him..." Bill said and gestured at Fox with his head. Once again, Fox's body cringed.

"Oh, uh... okay..." Carson said and turned at the prisoners. "Josiah Feldspar!" He shouted. "Is Josiah Feldspar here?"

A black bear showed up from behind the staring prisoners. "I am." He said.

Carson gestured with his finger for him to come by, and Josiah did so. With the custody help of another guard, Carson led Josiah inside the prison.

Bill watched the trio of men walk inside the prison, then huffed and turned at Fox. He was still sitting on the floor and looking down. "C'mon Fox..." Bill said and extended his hand at Fox.

Fox raised his head and stared at the hand for a while. He hesitated before taking it. Bill helped him get back on his feet.

"Let's go..." Bill said and walked towards the doors of the penitentiary.

Fox just sighed and shook his head unexcitedly. He hesitated but finally followed Bill inside the prison, just because one of the present guards gave him the order to get in.

...

Fox was led into his cell by the guard who had called him in the yard. Bill had followed them to Fox's cell, and was now watching how Fox was jailed again. Fox entered the cell at a zombie-like pace and watched how the guard closed the cell.

Bill walked up to the cell and looked at his imprisoned friend with the same confused expression as before. Seeing him here was something he would've never expected, and the fact that Fox neglected to talk to him was something that made him more confused. "Fox, what's going on? Why are you here?" He asked through the cell's bars, staring at Fox with a frown on his face.

Fox remained silent for a few seconds. He then slowly turned his head slightly to the left, to where Bill was, but still didn't look at him. "I uh... I was... arrested for, a money debt..." He lied.

The guard, who had been watching them since they arrived, chuckled. "He was arrested for armed robbery attempt." He grinned.

Fox scowled and clenched his fist, not looking at neither of the other present men.

"What?" Bill gasped. He turned his gaze back at Fox. "Is that true?"

Fox didn't respond, he just remained silent. Bill waited for Fox to answer, but he didn't.

Bill turned at the guard. "Can I have a moment alone with him?" He asked and pointed at Fox.

The guard hesitated for a few seconds, but decided it would do no harm to anyone. "Ten minutes" He said and reopened the cell's door. Bill walked in and the guard closed and locked the cell, then saved the keys and walked away.

Bill waited until the guard was out of sight, then turned at Fox. Fox was sitting on the lower bed of the cell, hung head, hands hanging between his legs, and fallen ears.

Neither of them said nothing for a good, long while. Bill had his arms crossed, staring at Fox. Fox hadn't moved from his position yet. Shame consumed him. All he wanted was for Bill to leave him alone and to go away. Unfortunately for him, that was the last thing Bill was going to do.

Silence lasted for a very long while, until Bill broke it with a sigh. He loosened his arms and gazed at Fox. "Fox, what's going on...?" He asked and opened his arms curiously.

Fox growled and placed his head between his hands. He didn't want to respond. He didn't want Bill to be there. He didn't want to be there. He just wanted to be alone.

"Fox, answer me..." Bill growled at the silent fox sitting on the bed.

Fox hissed and started rubbing his face with his hands, sighed and raised his head at Bill. "What do you want me to say, Bill?" He asked.

"I want to know why are you here..." Bill said.

"Didn't that moron already tell you?"

"You know perfectly what I'm talking about Fox" Bill snarled. "Why did you do it?"

Fox sighed and shook his head exasperatedly. "Because I was hungry, ok?" He replied.

"Hungry?" Bill asked and frowned. "What did you try to rob, exactly?"

Fox hesitated for a moment, moving his head from side to side, uncertain. "A box of... cookies..." He shrugged.

"What?" Bill hissed. "A box of cookies? That's it? A stupid box of cookies? That's why you're here?"

"I hadn't eaten anything for days, you know that Bill?" Fox growled.

"All I know is that I haven't seen my friend in years and when I finally find him he's locked in a cell for trying to rob a friggin' box of cookies!" Bill snapped. "How stupid does that sound to you Fox?"

Fox gritted his teeth and slowly turned his head away from Bill. This was leading in a very unpleasant direction.

"Out of all the people in the galaxy, you're the last one I would've ever imagined to perform a crime Fox. How is that for deception?"

Fox glared at Bill. "You've no idea what I've been through, Bill..." Fox hissed.

"And what have you been through Fox? Does it justify what you did?" Bill snarled.

"Nothing justifies what I did..." Fox sighed downheartedly.

Bill huffed and shook his head. At least Fox seemed to admit it was wrong. "How much time did they give you?" He asked.

"Five years..."

"Five years..." Bill repeated and licked his teeth, nodding with his hands on his hips. He shook his head slowly and looked at Fox. "Fox, what happened to you?"

Fox hesitated and sighed. "Bill... please, you've got to understand me... I-I had no money, and I hadn't eaten in days, I was starving..."

"But how can that be? What happened with all the money you had?"

"I..." Fox paused for a while, uncertain. "I spent it all..."

"What? But, in what did you spend it?"

"Drinks..." Fox replied.

"Oh God..." Bill muttered and placed his hand on his forehead. "How can somebody spend such wealth in drinks?"

"Sorry if that's hard to believe," Fox growled, "But, Bill, I..." Fox stopped for a moment. This conversation was digging out some of his most painful tribulations. He breathed deeply and looked at Bill with hurtful eyes. "Bill I didn't know what to do..." He said sadly.

Bill just stared at his broken friend skeptically.

"Since, that, day with... you know... Star Wolf...". Bill nodded slowly. "I've been lost. Everyone left me Bill, everybody. I was all alone, and, after..." Fox stopped for a moment, his voice irregular and tired. "After what _she _did... Bill, it hurt, it hurt so much..."

Bill sighed and hung his head.

"Do you know what is it like, Bill? To have everyone turn their backs at you? To be betrayed by whom you..." Fox paused for a moment, when he noticed his voice was beginning to crack. Then inhaled deeply. "Love the most...?"

Bill huffed and crossed his arms. "Couldn't get over it?" He asked.

Fox shook his head. "So much pain. Was it all a lie?" He asked, looking at the bulldog, with tears brimming.

Bill bit his lip. "I don't know Fox. I couldn't tell you... I didn't get to know her well but I imagine how did it affect you..."

Fox sighed. "Yeah..." He nodded. "I admit I took the wrong way... drinking... that does as much good as slamming your head against the pavement..." Fox hissed. "But, I was out of ideas..."

"I'd bet." Bill said, looking away.

"Eventually I ran outta money, so I was kicked outta my apartment."

Bill just shook his head slowly, staring into the nothingness. Hearing this was like watching a man making fun of himself. Pitiful.

"I tried looking for job but with each day I spent on the streets the more I looked like a wanderer, the less likely they were to hire me..."

"That makes sense..." Bill nodded. "So… Robbing food was the only option, huh?"

Fox rose and roared at Bill: "What's your damn problem Bill? Tell me, what would've you done?"

Bill didn't say anything, because he didn't know, neither, what he'd have done in such circumstances. He sighed and slowly turned his head away from Fox.

"Try to scold me now..." Fox growled.

Bill licked his teeth and huffed. "Sorry Fox..." He said. "You're right... there wasn't anyone who could've helped you..."

Fox sighed. "I've been here for around three weeks now, but, at least it's better than the streets... well that as long as you can defend yourself from the people here..." Fox said and shook his head.

Bill stood pensive for a moment, staring into the nothingness, for about ten seconds. He then heard the guard approaching. He glanced outside the cell to look at him and then back at Fox. "I'm getting you outta here..."

Fox's ears perked up and he frowned at Bill. "What?"

"You heard me, I'm getting you outta here..." Bill said firmly and looked at Fox. Their eyes met and they stared at each other for a long while.

Fox was skeptic. "That's not necessary-"

"That's absolutely necessary." Bill interrupted Fox. "I'm not going to live knowing that my childhood best friend is locked up in a cell."

Fox stared skeptically at Bill. "Bill, I, I don't know what to say..."

"You don't have to say anything..." Bill said, uncrossed his arms and turned outside the cell. The guard showed up and opened the cell.

"Your time's up..." The hound announced to Bill as he held the door open for Bill to come out. Bill stepped out of the cell and turned back at Fox when the guard closed it.

The guard walked away, and Fox got up from the cell's bed and stood in front of Bill, right on the other side of the cell's bars.

"Just hang in there, I'll try to get you out as fast as I can." Bill said, then walked away, behind the leaving guard.

Fox just looked at him through the cell's bars as he left, emotionless. He wasn't sure what to expect from Bill's promise.

He tried to remember the old days, when they were kids. Those old days, when one's problems were the other's problems, when if one fell, the other fell too, and if one succeeded the other succeeded too. The days where one would've given an arm for the other. Was Bill really willing to help him like the old days?

Fox sighed and sat down back on the cell's bed. He remembered who Bill had been during then. The one whom he could trust anything. Like a brother. Prank partners, battle buddies... the eyes on the back of the other.

Fox hummed and smiled slightly. If his old friend Bill hadn't changed since he last saw him, so many years ago, then he could really trust him.

* * *

X

* * *

Bill was sitting on a chair just in the entrance room of the prison. He was staring into the nothingness with a blank expression. This hadn't gone the way he'd expected it. Everything was so, confusing...

Suddenly, a door to his left opened, and Carson walked in. "Hey" He called when he saw Bill.

"Um?" Bill snapped out of his mind. "Oh, hey..." He replied when he saw Carson.

"What happened? Why didn't you help me interrogate Feldspar?" Carson asked and opened his arms questioningly.

"I had to talk to someone..." Bill replied and stood.

"That fox guy you were talking to earlier?" Carson asked as he started walking out, towards their car.

"Yeah..." Bill huffed.

"Do you know him?" Carson asked when they had reached the car. He opened the car driver's side door and entered it.

"Yes, he's... he's an old friend of mine..." Bill said as he opened the cockpit's door and entered it.

"And he's locked up here?" Carson started up the car's engine, and took off from the place.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna bust him out." Bill said, leaning on his door and looking outside.

"Really?"

"Yeah..."

"And what are you planning to do with him?" Carson asked as the car exited the prison.

"Well, he doesn't have a place to stay for the moment, so I think I'll let him stay with me..."

Carson scoffed. "If you say so..." Carson said. "Do you know how much the surety is?"

"No..." Bill said. "I'll check how much later..."

"Fine..." Carson shrugged. The car went onto the dusty road and disappeared from the guards sights.

* * *

X

* * *

_Seven days later..._

State Prison, 10:29 am.

Over the borderline in the distance, the guards outside the prison's gate distinguished a dark blue car approaching them.

When it was close enough, one of the guards signaled it to stop and walked up to its window. The guard exchanged a few words with the car's driver and then told the guards to open the gate.

Out of the prison walked Fox with a bag over his shoulder.

...

Bill saw the guards saying something to Fox. Fox told them something back and advanced towards the car.

Bill leaned to the left of the car and opened the cockpit's door. Fox entered the car and tossed his bag to the back seat, then closed the door.

Bill glanced at Fox, who was looking at the car's floor, thoughtfully. "You ready?"

"Huh?" Fox seemed to snap out of some kind of trance. "Yes... yeah..." Fox nodded several times.

Bill nodded. "Ok...". He started the engine, driving backwards in a U motion to get the car in position. Then he took off from the prison, while the guards outside stared at the leaving car, before it disappeared in the forest further away.

As Bill drove, he took quick and short glances at Fox, who seemed like taken out from reality. His sight was lost outside the window, and he was leaned against the door as well. During the time since they took off from the prison none of them had said anything. Maybe they didn't know what to say, or maybe there wasn't anything to say. They didn't know. Surely, a couple of friends who met for first time in a long time would have plenty to talk about, but these were no ordinary conditions. It was awkward; Mostly due to that of Fox. He didn't know what to do. Neither did he know what Bill was going to do with him. He'd probably drop him somewhere and let him deal with life, the same way he dealt with it before being imprisoned. Or maybe not...

"Hey Fox..."

Fox snapped out from his mind. "Uh-What?"

"Is everything okay?" Bill asked, looking at him with apparent concern.

Fox took a while to respond. "Um, yeah, w-why do you ask?"

"Well, you look a bit, outta here..." Bill replied, still looking at him.

"Oh, yeah, sorry it's... it's nothing..." Fox sighed. Bill licked his teeth, nodded and switched back his attention at the road, and Fox back outside the window.

From there on, none of them said nothing else. Everything was silent. The only sounds they could hear were those of the car's engine. That lasted about sixty seconds...

"Why are you doing this?"

"What?" Bill asked and glanced at Fox, who was staring at him, cynically.

"Why are you doing this...?" Fox repeated.

"Doing what?" Bill asked and narrowed his eyebrows.

"This._"_ He said, gesturing his position in the car with Bill. "Bailing me out of prison. Why?" Fox asked.

Bill opened his mouth slightly. "What, you didn't want to get outta there? 'Cause if you didn't, I could take back the bail money and-"

"No, no Bill no" Fox interrupted. "You didn't get me, I, I'm really grateful you did, thank you very much..." He said. "What I meant is, why did you do it?"

"Why did I pay for your release?" Bill asked.

"Yeah..."

Bill switched his sight back at the road and sighed. "Well... I, I dunno." Bill shrugged. "I think part of it is because, well, you were my best friend when we were young... I couldn't leave you in there..." Bill said.

Fox huffed at that, and nodded. "Well, uh... thanks..."

Bill smiled and raised his hand. "It's nothing..."

Fox nodded again. "And uh, where, where are you planning to leave me?"

Bill paused for a moment and glanced at Fox. "Do you have a place to stay?"

Fox sighed. "No..."

Bill nodded. "Then, I'll let you stay in my apartment."

"Oh Bill, that's not necessary." Fox said and put his hands in front of him.

"I'll ask you again, do you have anywhere else to stay?" Bill asked and raised an eyebrow.

Fox huffed and shook his head. "No, I don't."

Bill nodded. "Then you'll stay with me..."

Fox looked away, for a while smirking hopefully. "Well, thanks man. I'll try not to be a burden to you... I'll seek a job as soon as possible."

"I think I've got you covered, Fox." Bill smiled.

"You do?"

"Yeah, there's someone who owes me one." Bill said. "He can give you a job."

"Whoa, um, well, thanks Bill, I'll do my best" Fox smiled slightly.

"I bet you will" Bill smiled, too.

...

_Half an hour later..._

Bill's car showed up at the building where Bill lived. He parked it beside the walkway on the other side of the street across from the building, and he and Fox stepped out.

Bill leaned against the car, staring at the building, while Fox got out his bag from the car's back seat. He walked up beside Bill and looked at the building.

"Is that where you live?" Fox asked, his bag over his shoulder.

"Yep," Bill said, "that's it... let's go in" Bill said and walked towards the building. Fox followed him from behind.

When they entered, Bill started looking all over the place with his gaze. Fox just watched him as he searched for who knows what.

"What are you looking for?" Fox asked.

Bill didn't seem to have heard him. "Hmm... Mario's not here..."

"Who's Mario?" Fox asked.

"The doorkeeper." Bill replied as he started walking up the stairs. Fox followed behind him.

"The doorkeeper?" Fox asked.

"Yeah," Bill replied, "he's a friend of mine..."

"Señor Bill!" They both heard a voice coming from upstairs. They raised their heads up and saw a Chihuahua peeking out from the stairs railing.

"Hey Mario!" Bill smiled and replied back. "That's him..." He spoke to Fox.

"Yeah, I noticed..." Fox said as he watched the Chihuahua hurrying down the stairs to meet up with them.

Finally Mario met up with them. "So you're back from the prison?" Mario asked.

"Yeah, I'm back..." Bill smiled.

Mario switched his sight to Fox. "Este es el reo?" He asked and pointed at Fox. "Es igualito al Fox McCloud!" he exclaimed.

Fox smiled.

Bill chuckled. "Si es el! A poco no me creiste cuando te dije?"

"No pos no!" Mario exclaimed, then turned at Fox. "Hello Mr. McCloud, it's, it's an honor to meet you!" Mario said excitedly and stretched his hand at Fox.

"Mucho gusto..." Fox smiled and shook Mario's hand.

"Ay wey, tambien hablas español?" Mario exclaimed. Fox nodded smiling. "Chido vato! But there's no problem if you prefer to speak in English, I actually want to practice mine..." Mario said.

"That's fine Mario. Nice to meet you..." Fox said.

"It's an honor to meet you Mr. McCloud..." Mario smiled. "Okay amigos, I'm leaving ya, I've work to do!" Mario said and continued walking his way downstairs.

"See ya later!" Bill said.

"Yeah bye!" Mario replied back. "Hombre no puedo creerlo, Fox McCloud, tsss que chilo...-" They both heard Mario's voice getting away down the stairs each second.

Fox glanced at Bill when Mario's voice disappeared. "Nice kid..." He smiled and pointed his thumb to the side Mario had gone to.

"Yeah, he's a good guy..." Bill said and continued walking upstairs.

At last they reached apartment 07. Bill stood in front of the door, drew out a key from his left jacket pocket, thrust it inside the keyhole, turned it, and opened the door. He walked inside, but Fox hesitated to walk behind him.

Bill tossed the keys on the room's table, then turned at the exit, where Fox was standing. "Hey, are you coming in or what?"

Fox remained silent for a moment, and nodded. "Fine..." He said as he walked inside the apartment.

"Close the door." Bill said when Fox was in.

"Hm? Oh yeah, right." Fox said, turned back and pushed the door closed.

"Okay, now, come here." Bill called Fox with a wave of his hand and entered a door. Fox followed him inside, giving slow and long steps, with his bag over his shoulder.

When Fox went through the door, the first thing he saw was a bed. Bill was beside the doorframe.

"Okay Fox," Bill said and walked up to the bed, "you'll sleep here." He said and pointed at the bed.

Fox nodded once and tossed his bag on the bed.

"You can use this closet to save your stuff." Bill pointed at a wooden door on the left wall. He exited the room again, Fox didn't break eyes from him.

"Here," Bill signaled a door to the farthest right, beside another door, "is the bathroom. This is my room, by the way..." Bill said and pointed at the other door.

Fox just nodded again.

"You can take whatever you want from the fridge," Bill said, "the phone's there if you ever need to make a call," He said and pointed at a small table beside the entrance, "you can cook whatever you want in the oven, and... there's the TV, 130 channels so I doubt you'll get bored. Oh and by the way, the laundry is on the first floor, if you ever need to wash your clothes, and I bet you will." Bill finished. "That's all."

Fox didn't say anything. He just stood there, gazing all over the place.

"Okay, I'm going to leave you for now," Bill said as he started walking towards the exit. "make yourself comfortable meanwhile..."

Fox just watched Bill as he walked towards the door. Bill reached it, grabbed the knob and turned it, then opened the door.

"Bill..."

Bill stopped, and glanced at Fox over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

Fox didn't say any other thing than that. He just stood there, staring at Bill with that blank expression.

Bill just stared back at him, wondering what might have made Fox call him.

It was then, when Fox started walking towards Bill. Bill released the door and turned at Fox.

Fox walked up to him and stopped right in front of him, still staring at him, and Bill still stared back.

None moved, none said anything.

"What's it Fox?" Bill asked, when he noticed Fox's eyes were red.

Fox just opened his arms and tightly hugged Bill. Bill was startled at first, but it took him a split second to return him the hug.

"Thanks Bill, thank you, thank you very much..." Fox wept and hugged Bill more strongly.

Bill just patted him on the back a few times. "It's okay, don't worry..."

"No Bill it's not okay." Fox muttered. "I'm just causing you problems..."

"Easy with yourself Fox, that's not true." Bill said.

"Yes it's true." Fox growled. "First the bail and now this... I can't understand why you're doing so much for me..."

"Fox listen to me." Bill said calmly, grabbing Fox's shoulders and pushing him at arm distance, staring into his eyes. "Don't worry about anything of this. It's nothing, really." He chuckled. "You're my friend, my best friend since elementary school, and you're welcome here… always." The bulldog grinned in hopes to cheer the vulpine up.

Fox sighed and wiped a small tear from his eye. "Thank you buddy, I… I promise it'll only be temporary..." He said.

"That's okay..." Bill said and shook Fox's shoulders, then released him. "Don't pressure yourself, you can stay as long as you want and need to." Bill said and reopened the door. "I have to go somewhere. I recommend you take a shower in the time being, because you reek!" Bill chuckled.

Fox smirked and nodded.

Bill smiled too, then closed the door.

Fox sighed when Bill was gone, turned back and gazed all around the apartment. It was nicer than he expected. He walked inside the bathroom and looked around for a towel. When he was sure he had one at hand he took his clothes off and jumped inside the shower. He turned the faucet.

"Oh..." Fox huffed when he felt the warm water run across his body. It'd been a while since he'd started missing hot water.

He wasn't still sure about living in Bill's apartment, he felt like he'd be dead weight for him.

But Bill had been his best friend since they were kids. They used to help each other with whatever problem they could. Maybe this was like those old days. He had nowhere he could go, nothing he could do and nowhere he could stay, and Bill was helping him by letting him stay with him. Fox was sure he could eventually regain the same trust he had for him when they were kids. He'd only have to find some way to help Bill and not be a burden in the meantime.

Plus, Fox had said it would only be for a short while...

* * *

**That's it for now. Give thanks to Saberfox0324, he did me the favor of betaing (Dude I don't know how to say it) this chapter and corrected my errors. Thanks brother!**


	9. Moving on

**What's up everybody? Sorry for the delay, I'm really sorry, but as I told you, I had a writers block case what had me unable to write for a good while. But it is over now :D By the way SaberFox 0324, ConGie's back, so I'm sending him my chapters from now on. Still, THANKS A LOT for your previous help, I'm very thankful. Now, read and enjoy!  
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* * *

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_A long time later..._

_..._

Bill's apartment, 9:30 am.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

SMACK! Just one slap was enough to silence the annoying alarm clock.

"Mmmm..." Bill purred sleepily. He rolled on his bed and sat on its edge, glancing at the alarm clock. 9:30, it read. He took a deep breath and lazily rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "I hate mornings..." He hissed before standing up and walking towards his wardrobe. He took out a gray T-shirt and a towel and walked out of his room.

Once outside, Bill took a short moment to gaze around his apartment. All silent and empty. Everything was in its place but there were some dirty dishes and soda cans on the living room's table from yesterday's supper. Other than that, everything looked pretty lonely. He huffed and took way towards the bathroom, decided to take a wake up shower. He grabbed the bathroom door's knob and tried to turn it, but it didn't move. Bill frowned, and tried to turn it a few times more. Nothing.

"Agh..." Bill hissed in annoyance. "Fox, get out!" He barked and started knocking on the door.

"No way!" A voice replied from the inside. "I'm right in the middle of- oh, oh wait!" Fox hissed before a loud, nasty sound exploded in the insides of the bathroom and reached Bill's freaked ears.

"GAH!" Bill exclaimed and quickly jumped away from the door, scared by such loud and unlikable sound.

"Ungh... it's the last time I have dinner in Mario's house..." Fox muttered regretfully, remembering the pleasure of the spicy but tasty food, but suffering the consequences of his unaccustomed stomach.

"Just hurry up you damn hog!" Bill scowled.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going.."

Bill heard the sound of a flushing toilet, then some pants buckling later, then Fox opened the door and walked out quietly.

"All yours..." Fox sneered as he took way towards the kitchen for his breakfast.

Bill just shook his head and walked inside the bathroom without more. Immediately after, he almost lost consciousness. "GEEZ FOX WHAT DID YA EAT?" Bill shouted, running out of the bathroom covering his muzzle from the toxic air.

"You know, Mario's one hell of a cook but he uses too much spices on food..." Fox said while searching the fridge. "I prefer sandwiches..."

Bill huffed. "Never mind..." He hissed, arming himself with valor and running inside the bathroom, looking desperately for the aromatic spray while holding his breath.

Fox was meticulously looking for some sandwich ingredients in the fridge when he heard Bill's victory cry. "AHA! Here it is-! *gasp* *cough cough cough* Ack! Dammit!"

Fox just rolled his eyes and continued his quest for the sandwich ingredients.

...

_Ten minutes later..._

Fox was sitting on the living room's couch, eating a couple of sandwiches, while watching a historical program, about how they had evolved from ancient living forms that had inhabited and old planet called Earth, home to a dead race called Human. Their evolved ancestors had adopted all the Human knowledge, culture and beliefs, and then had fled the planet, searching for better places to live, since Earth was a hardly inhabitable planet, now completely abandoned and forgotten. According to the report, all of that had taken place millenniums ago...

Fox glanced back when he heard the sound of a door opening. Bill walked out of the bathroom rubbing the towel against his head, fully dressed and still wet-looking.

"Hey Bill..." Fox called.

"What is it?" Bill grunted.

"Look at that..." Fox said and pointed at the TV. They were currently showing the image of a pre-evolved, wild fox. "Do you really believe we evolved from those?"

Bill placed the towel around his neck and gazed at the image while it was on screen, then huffed. "I dunno..." He said and went towards the kitchen.

"Hmm, I dunno why am I watching this, either..." Fox said and started switching channels. "Ohohoho, the girls beach volleyball tournament!" Fox said excitedly as he stared at the TV.

"Huh?" Bill, who was currently pouring some orange juice in a glass, took a peek at the TV. "How are they?"

"Hot!" Fox exclaimed excitedly.

"I meant the score board you perv!"

"Oh, um, tied at one!" Fox replied.

"Damn it sounds like an interesting game!" Bill exclaimed as he drank his orange juice.

"Then come and watch it!" Fox said without quitting his overly attentive gaze from the TV.

"I can't," Bill said as he took a slice of toasted bread with strawberry jam and and took a bit of it, "I've to attend some businesses with Carson..."

Fox perked his ears up. "Carson? You mean you're back on business?" He asked.

"Yeah, we're getting an assignment I'm about to get briefed about." Bill replied.

Fox grinned. "Nice, secret agents Grey and Red back in action!"

Secret agents? Naw, Fox was wrong. The right word was covert operatives.

Long ago, while Bill was on the army, and motivated by how Fox's field had been expanded beyond just flight, Bill trained hard, and gradually mastered all kinds of combats. Piloting, Weapons, CQC, yeah, Bill was one hell of a soldier, even considered as a good candidate for Star Fox before it all got screwed up.

Anyway, a soldier of that elite couldn't have been kept as an army pawn, could he? So Bill was quickly made an offer he couldn't refuse. The guy had been recommended by his captain as a candidate for the CSA (Cornerian Silent Army), a limb of the government created to train and provide reliable men for performing otherwise extremely dangerous tasks. That's where he met Carson Red, who quickly became one of his most trustworthy friends.

Some time ago, Bill and Carson arrived in Corneria, hired to pursue and neutralize a small rising insurgent movement before it got any stronger. It was during then when he found Fox and busted him outta jail. Once Fox started living with him, he decided he could trust him with the news, even though it wasn't permitted to reveal their occupation to anyone. So far, Fox had proven to be an excellent safe box. But enough with the sh*t. Let's get back with our heroes- um, friends.

"Secret agents?" Bill frowned.

"Oh, yeah I forgot that. Secret agents are dudes with phone-shoes, laser watches, jetpacks and all that cool crap. Covert operatives are the poor losers below them who can only afford silenced pistols." Fox sneered.

"Hm, you're very funny, you know that?"

"Yes I do." Fox smiled. "So, you've got another assignment..."

"Yep."

"Phew, it'd been a while since the last time you had one. So, what's the deal?"

"I dunno yet." Bill replied a little exasperated because of how Fox had seemed to have forgotten his first answer. "That's why I have to go with Carson to the main offices. We're gonna get briefed on the job, then we're departing tomorrow to Saint Louis."

"Saint Louis!" Fox exclaimed excitedly. "I love that place! Can I go?"

"Nope, sorry. Ya know we travel only for businesses."

Fox huffed. "Yeah, I know..."

Bill grabbed his keys from the table and pocketed them. "Okay buddy, see you later."

"Dude wait!" Fox quickly stood up. "Could you drop me at work on your way? I lost my bus money on a gamble with Mario yesterday..."

"Sure..." Bill said as he took a jacket from a chair and put it on, not really caring about how Fox lost his money. "Just hurry up cuz I'm about to go. And give me the yesterday's deposit ticket, before I forget." He added.

Fox frowned at that last sentence. "The what?"

Bill was frozen on his spot. He stared at Fox sceptically. "The ticket..." He repeated. He started to fear as he saw Fox didn't seem to know what the f*ck he was talking about. "the deposit ticket... the ticket of the deposit you were supposed to do..."

Fox just stood sitting there with that confused face, doing nothing. His mind was still trying to understand what Bill meant.

"Fox, the deposit I asked you to do! For the apartment's rental! You borrowed my car with the condition of making the deposit!" Bill shouted angrily.

Finally, Fox got the twenty. His eyes shot wide open and his mouth as well. "Oh dude the deposit!"

"Yeah the deposit!" Bill exclaimed angrily. "The one you were supposed to do yesterday because today's Saturday and banks close at midday!"

"Man I completely forgot!" Fox panicked.

"I'm aware of that!" Bill scowled.

His panicking stopped and gave place for total silence. "So, what now...?" Fox asked stupidly.

"Now let's rush to the bank before it closes!" Bill scowled.

"Yeah yeah, I'm on my way!" Fox exclaimed. He turned off the TV and ran inside his bedroom.

"Forget it, you'll have to walk!" Bill hissed and walked towards the door.

"Dude no! Wait a sec!"

Bill growled deeply in his throat and for some reason beyond his understanding, he stopped to wait for Fox, wondering why was he so patient with him.

Fox finally came out a short while after, wearing a white shirt with a red logo saying "Safe Relays" on the left breast, and a pair of tennis shoes. He was also carrying a small backpack.

"Ready?" Bill asked exasperatedly.

"Yeah let's go!" Fox said. He opened the door and got out. Bill followed behind him and closed the door before locking it tightly.

...

"Hurry up Bill!" Fox shouted at Bill from inside the car.

"Yeah yeah, I'm on it!" Bill growled as he struggled to find the car's key among the mess of keys while running towards the car. The jumps made it really hard to find it. He made it to the car, entered it and coincidentally also found the key. "Here it is!" He exclaimed as he smashed it inside the keyhole and turned it. The car buzzed into life as it took off from the place like a bat outta hell.

"Oh Fox you really screwed it up this time..." Bill hissed as he skillfully maneuvered the car through the city's massive traffic. Apparently, piloting skills also paid off on the road.

"Yes I know I know I know!" Fox said smacking his head once and twice then thrice.

"Just what were you doing yesterday?"

"Man it was Mario! He told me about this place where they sell tacos and I just couldn't resist! Time flies by when you eat tacos you know?"

Bill grunted. "You're a moron Fox, you know that?" He hissed at Fox.

"Yeah, whatever..." Fox said while shaking his head.

Finally, they arrived at the bank. Bill slammed the brakes and the car did a sudden stop which almost threw them both towards the windshield have it not been for the safety belts. As soon as the car was halted Bill opened Fox's door and kicked him out of the car.

"Hurry up cuz I got the meeting at 10:40!" Bill growled.

Fox almost fell on the pavement but somehow he managed to regain equilibrium. "Dude I've no money!" Fox said.

"The hell? I gave you fifty credits yesterday!"

Fox stared at Bill with that painful expression. "Uh... I think I lost 'em..."

"Argh!" Bill roared and started searching his jacket pocket with exasperation. "You lost them in tacos, that's what you did, idiot!" He scowled as he tossed Fox the money.

"Whoop!" Fox caught the money. "Don't go anywhere I'll be back right away!" Fox said as he ran inside the bank. Bill just rolled his eyes, shook his head while watching the idiot vulpine fly inside the bank, and leaned on his door.

_"God... I wonder where I get patience from..."_

...

_'Okay this shouldn't take too long, I just hafta reach a teller and then...-' _Fox's plans were thrown through the window when he saw the ridiculously large row for the bank. The worse of things was that there were only two available tellers. _'Man why does everyone wait for Saturday to make their transactions? And why the hell did every teller have his break today?' _Fox pouted mentally as he walked one single step inside the bank before already reaching the end of the row.

...

_Five minutes, Fox hasn't returned..._

_Ten minutes, Fox hasn't returned yet..._

_Fifteen minutes, what the hell is he waiting for...?_

_Twenty minutes, I'm gonna kill that moron!_

_Twenty-five minutes... _"Fox you idiot!"

Bill quickly opened the door, shut it aggressively and trotted towards the bank's entrance. He glanced through the glass doors and inside the bank. The row for the bank was awfully looooooooong, probably because there were only two tellers on duty.

Fox, who Bill had been staring at for about ten seconds, finally noticed the bulldog on the doors. He raised his head in a _what? _fashion.

_I'm gonna go_, Bill said with mimic.

_No, wait, just a few more seconds! _Fox begged with hand signals.

_No I'm going._

_Dude please!_

Bill placed his hands on his hips and huffed, thinking. He repeatedly snapped his fingers at Fox, signaling him to hurry up. Fox nodded several times and... did nothing, just kept waiting.

_..._

"Fox you freakin' idiot..." Bill growled silently. Fox was taking longer than he could wait. He finally straightened himself up on the seat and started the engine when he saw Fox running out of the bank as if Chuck Norris was chasing him. He reached his side, opened the door and entered the car. The car shot off from the area in a blink.

Ever since they had taken off from the bank there had been a deadly silence within the hovercar. Fox stared at Bill like a mischievous child waiting for his punishment. And Bill, oh boy, he was practically burning in rage. He didn't show it, but Fox could tell it. He could clearly see how tense his arms were, his clenching jaws, those dry movements of the navigation wheel, and the way he glared at the road forward. It was a hell for Fox. Why, because ever since Fox moved with him, Bill had thoroughly showed him who ruled. Oh yeah, and he'd made it veeery clear.

And Fox, he just couldn't stand it. He couldn't afford Bill getting angry at him. Because Bill had demonstrated being worse than a real mother. Last time, he locked the fridge with a padlock, and Fox starved for days until Bill felt it'd been enough. This time, who knows what he could do: Hide the TV's remote, spill itch powder on his bed, buy integral bread instead of white, pull the toilet's chain while he's taking a shower... the possibilities were infinite, and they made him shiver just to think about them.

Fox shook his head. Thinking about his sad future wouldn't make it any better. "Ufff... man, I'm bored, let's hear some music..." Fox sighed and turned on the radio.

_"-And that's exactly the problem of our community, the lack of reciprocity between individuals. Because as much as someone is willing to help make this world a better place, there is and there will always be people that doesn't give a damn about the world, and even people who only wants to fu-"_

"Ugh..." Fox changed the tune. "I hate radio conferences..."

_"-owever, the horrible pain I can feel in-" _Kzzzk!

_"-my ass! It makes me feel like-" _Kzzzk!

_"-fighting against the ruthless and evil-!" _Kzzzk!

_"-orphans of the Salinas Orphanage want to-" _Kzzzk_!_

_"-take over the free world and destroy us-!" _Kzzzk!

"Alright, turn that sh*t off..." Bill grunted and turned the radio off. He then reassumed his position on the seat.

Fox frowned at Bill. "What? Why?"

Bill didn't respond.

"Are you angry at me?"

Again, Bill didn't respond. But he did frown even harder.

"Are you, alright?"

Bill licked his lips.

"Why?"

"Gee I don't know Fox, let me think about it!" Bill exclaimed and faked a pensive face. "Yeah that's it... because I freakin' had a freakin' appointment at freakin' 10:40 and now it's freakin' 10:28!" Bill barked. "I woke up freakin' early for absolutely nothing!"

Fox licked his cheeks, but decided to forget it. "Well, if you're gonna get angry at me and ground me, then at least lemme hear a song..." He said and turned on the radio again. Bill just snorted, but didn't do anything.

_"And now, the Rocking Hour continues with_, _Blitzkrieg Bop*, only here, 99.7 Ekksa FM_!_"_

"Oh, oh!" Fox exclaimed excitedly. "Bill! Did ya hear that? Blitzkrieg Bop!" He said. It'd been their favorite song when they were young, and it'd been eons since the last time he'd heard it.

Bill just hm'ed, faking no interest, although he was just as excited as Fox about the song, as it'd practically been their hymn when they were young. Suddenly, the guitar, bass and battery beats started sounding in the speakers, magnificently. It was such a delight to listen to such a song. But it all crumbled down for Bill, when Fox started yelling like a dying animal.

"HEY HO, LET'S GO!"

"Fox, please don't start..." Bill said through gritting teeth. But Fox wiped his ass with Bill's words.

"HEY HO, LET'S GO!"

"Fox shut up!" Bill snarled.

"HEY HO, LET'S GO!"

"Fox!"

HEY HO, LET'S GO!"

"Dammit Fox, people's starting to look at us!" And it was true because they were waiting for the green light and the remaining traffic had no other couple of singing idiots to look at.

"C'mon Bill, follow me!" Fox chuckled and smacked Bill's shoulder. "They're forming in a straight line!"

"I don't think so..." Bill said.

"They're going through a tight wind!"

Bill frowned and shook his head.

"The kids are losing their minds!" And then Fox pointed at Bill, hoping for him to say the chorus. But he didn't. Fox frowned and continued on.

"They're piling in the back seat!"

"Fox, shut up you've-"

"They generate steam heat!"

"-no idea how stupid-"

"Pulsating to the back beat!"

"-you look..."

"The Blitzkrieg Bop!" Fox shouted. "C'mon Bill don't let me singing alone! For old time's sake!" He pouted playfully.

Bill shook his head, and Fox noticed he was trying to suppress a smile. He continued, "Hey ho, let's go-!"

"Shoot 'em in the back now!" Bill finally shouted, giving up to his desires.

Fox grinned. Finally Bill decided to cooperate. "What they want?"

"I don't know!"

"THEY'RE ALL REVED UP AND READY TO GO!" They both shouted in unison.

...

And time flew by, as the two friends awfully screamed the song's lyrics. Yeah, people stared, but the song had somewhat revived their younghood crazy and uncaring spirits. One started a line, and the other finished it, perfect timing. Both of them were surprised that they could remember the lyrics perfectly.

"Okay that's enough..." Bill chuckled, even though the song was still on.

But Fox still wanted to sing. He kept on repeating the lyrics, following the song's timing with perfect accuracy.

"Well Fox that's enough..." Bill repeated.

But Fox kept on barking and yelling.

"I said enough!" Bill scowled and grabbed the back of Fox's neck.

"Aw aw aw aw!" Fox hissed in pain.

"You gonna shut up?" Bill asked.

"Hell no!" Fox teased Bill, even despite it hurt.

Bill squeezed harder. "Said what?"

"Aw aw!" Fox squeaked in pain. He tried to quit Bill's hand from his neck but that wouldn't be of much help...

"Don't even think about it!" Bill said quickly as he squeezed harder and pinned Fox against the car's door.

"Okay okay okay I give up!" Fox hissed, his face stuck against the door's window and his neck aching.

"Who's the boss?" Bill asked grinning.

"Dude let go of me!"

"Who's the boss?" Bill repeated maliciously, adding more pressure to Fox's neck.

"You!" Fox yipped.

"I didn't hear ya..."

"You man, you are!" Fox cried.

Bill smiled. "That's the way I like it..." He said and released Fox.

"Aw man!" Fox hissed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sometimes you're a bit too rough, don't you think?"

"Nope," Bill smiled, "force is the only way there is to control stubborn dumbs like yourself..."

"Freakin' idiot..." Fox grinned and smacked Bill's nape.

Bill was about to reply the smack but he thought of better letting that one go. He was certain Fox had enough.

...

At last for Fox, they'd reached his destination. Bill parked in front of a seven-floor tall building, with a huge letterboard saying "Safe Relays"

Fox stepped out of the car, closed the door and leaned on it, looking inside the car. "I can take it from here, thanks bro."

"You have money to get back, don't ya?" Bill asked. Fox was famous for forgetting the bus money and having to walk back home.

"Yeah I got enough." Fox replied, patting his pocket to make sure it was true. "See you later bro. Don't forget today's the tournament finals at Mario's home!" He smiled.

"Man, the game..." Bill sighed. "Sorry I can't, I have a date today with Grace..."

"Really? Tsk, fine..." Fox said in a mocking tone. "But you're going to miss the fun!"

"I highly doubt it." Bill grinned as he started the engine. "Say hello to Grace for me willya? I hafta go." He said as he stepped on the accelerator.

"Sure. And you say hello to Carson for me. Don't get killed!" Fox said before Bill took off. He knew Bill heard him because Bill waved his hand before going.

Fox huffed and walked inside the building without enthusiasm.

The first sight he met was a relatively small room, a desk at the bottom and a receptionist, a young-looking and rather attractive female collie, behind the desk. She was typing something into the desk's computer, and didn't appear to notice Fox's arrival.

Fox smiled and walked up to the desk, where he stopped and leaned on. The collie raised her head and smiled widely at the square. "Well, if it isn't Foxie McCloud, late as always. How's it going sweetheart?" She asked brightly.

"Very well Grace, thank you." Fox smiled. "How's work?"

Grace huffed, "Terrible honey... lots'a paperwork and stuff... it's a tired mess..."

"I see... well, you want money, don't you?"

Grace smiled, "you bet. By the way, where's my cute chocolate cupcake? Didn't he drive you here? Why didn't he stop by to greet me?" The girl asked with a sense of disappointment.

Fox smiled at the hearing of how Grace called Bill. "He was in a hurry and he had to go." Fox replied. "But I heard he's going to pull out a circus tonight for ya..." He said in a suggestive tone.

Grace giggled. "What? Jealous?"

"Tsk, as if." Fox rolled his eyes. "Did Hamilton arrive yet?"

"Yeah sweetie, he already came and went. Said the van's in the garage, and that he left the data pad on the front seat. The packages are already loaded." Grace said. "Ya ready to work?"

Fox huffed, "yeah, gotta bring bread to the table..." He said as he walked off towards a double set of doors which lead towards the garage. "See ya later, Grace." Fox said before going through the doors.

"Later honey!" Grace said and returned to work.

What Fox found beyond that set of doors was a garage full of stationed white van trucks, every one of them perfectly arranged and with the "Safe Relay" logo painted on the sides.

Safe Relays, as you might have already guessed, was a delivery company, which had hired Fox as a favor payment to Bill, who'd once saved the owner's ass during an assignment.

Fox strolled along the line of vans, looking for his car. "Ah, SFRL-179, here you are..." Fox said and entered the truck when he found it. Inside, just like Grace had said, he found a data pad. It displayed various location names, package descriptions and clients names.

"Ok, it's time to earn my salary..." Fox said as he started the van's engine. The van took off from the garage and to make its first delivery...

* * *

X

* * *

...

A certain husky was standing in front of a laundry shop, eagerly watching the overly transited streets, apparently waiting for someone. Then, his ears perked up at the sight of a dark blue car approaching him. It stopped right in front of him, and the driver opened the cockpit's door.

"Need a ride, babe?" Bill grinned from inside the car.

"Very funny William, and late as hell..." Carson hummed, visibly upset, then entered the car.

"Yeah yeah, don't tell me..." Bill shook his head and took off from the place.

Carson had already guessed the answer, but he decided to ask anyway. "So, why so late?"

Bill sighed. "Little inconvenient." He said.

"Fox, huh?" Carson asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the idiot forgot to pay our place's rental and we had to make a run to the bank." Bill huffed.

Carson chuckled, what caught Bill's curiosity. "What's that?" He asked confusedly.

Carson frowned. "What's what?"

"That chuckle, what was it for?"

"Oh," Carson chuckled again, "it ain't nothing. Just, I didn't know it was you two's place, now..." He said.

Bill snorted. "Well, he's been living there for quite a while now. I can't keep saying it's only mine, can I?"

"Can't you?"

Bill shook his head. "Naw, that would low my buddy's status a whole lot."

"Heh, like ol' Fox's got high stats." Carson smiled. "I remember the first time, you said, _'it'll only be for a short while'_, and look now, he's been there now for... what? A year? Two?"

"Well, it was shortly after we arrived here chasing that weapons dealer, so... I've no idea. Who counts them anyway?" Bill said.

"Yeah, who does?" Carson hummed.

"I know he surpassed the time limit-"

"And for a lot." Carson nodded.

"Yeah... but he's my bro, would you have kicked a brother outta your house in my place?" Bill inquired.

"Course not William." Carson replied. "Nobody's complaining. I just find it funny how you said a thing and did another."

Bill nodded. "He does help me with the place's rental anyway, so he's not exactly what you'd call a burden, yeah?"

"Yeah." Carson replied.

"But enough of that." Bill said. "Right now I want to know about our next job. Did Tommy say anything?"

"Well I asked him," Carson said, "and he said quite a few things. Something about escorting the daughter of some rich fish from Saint Louis to El Novillo." He said. "Quite a travel huh?"

Bill hissed when he heard the destination. "Man what is this gal gonna do that far away?"

"Beats me too." Carson replied.

"Well, let's go and hear the rest of that, shall we?"

"Let's do."

* * *

X

* * *

_Later that day..._

"-yeah, just sign here..." Fox said, showing the black cat a writing board and a pen, and pointing at the lower part of the document on the board.

"Sure." The cat said as he did as Fox said. "There." He said and handed the things back to Fox.

Fox concealed the board, "perfect, here you go" he said and gave the cat a small brown package.

"Thank you very much." The cat said.

"You're welcome." Fox replied as he walked off back towards his van. The cat didn't lose time and entered back his home and closed the door.

Fox entered the van and slowly closed the door. "Pufff... this is so tiring..." He sighed. And it was true for a fact. Spending hours driving and driving and driving without quitting his ass from that seat was ass-harming and really, really boring. But at least, he couldn't call himself a burden for Bill. At least not at all.

"Okay McCloud, pull yourself together," Fox tried to raise himself up a little, "just one more delivery left, and then it's football time!" he smiled. So he stepped on the accelerator and took off to make the last delivery.

...

"OUTTA THE WAY #&%$s!" Fox shouted while driving past every one of the other cars on the road. "I'M GONNA MISS THE SOCCER FINALS!"

ZOOM! ZOOM! ZOOM! ZOOM! ZOOM! Fox had finally made his last delivery but with a small problem.

The last delivery had been a damn Pro Digital Sound giant Home Theater set, and the receiver was a damn granny. She asked him to install it, and in name of the company Fox couldn't refuse. Unfortunately, Fox knew jack about the set, and he'd to read the whole damn manual in order to leave it on and rolling. Took him the whole hour to finish. But it all was worth the wait because it was SOCCER NIGHT! YAY! Plus the granny had promised to give him the set when she passed out, so he was thrilled for the almost his set.

Not too long took the vulpine to arrive at the offices. He practically stashed the car in the garage and ran to the lobby. Grace was nowhere to be seen, probably she went home to get ready for her night with Bill, so he just shoot himself inside the first bus he saw and waited for the vehicle to reach his destination.

...

"Here's where I get off!" Fox shouted at the bus driver. He was readying himself to jump down when the door opened but strangely it didn't. Fox glanced at the driver and scowled when he saw he hadn't heard him, probably because there were too much chattering people. "HEY SHUT UP! GETTING OFF OLD MAN!" Fox shouted, eagerly trying to pry the doors open.

"What'n the Tapia Hill-? Get dah hell down m'bus ya damn psycho!" The old raccoon shouted angrily and opened the bus doors.

"Whoa!" Fox almost face-landed on the pavement but he managed to stumble his way back straight up. "Thanks!" He shouted without rancor at the leaving bus. _'Now where's that damn dog? Gotta see the game!'_ He thought and rushed inside the apartments building.

The place looked unusually deserted. He walked towards Mario's door and knocked on it a few times. "Mario?" Fox asked, carefully listening for any traces of the Chihuahua's presence. "Hey Ayala, ain't got the whole night ya knew?" Fox called again.

"Hey man!" A voice came from behind the stairway. Fox recognized it was Mario, so he went to see what was he doing. He found the dog, moping the floor with the same face of someone who got socks for Christmas.

"Hey man," Fox greeted, "you still pulling?"

Mario sighed, "Yeah. Some hijo de la chingada puked on the damn floor, just when I finished washing the mop. Talk about crap." He muttered.

Fox walked and stood just beside Mario. "Yeah.. well, no pouting man, this is your job, remember?"

"Yeah, don't have to tell me twice." Mario said while he searched his pocket. "Go ahead will ya? I'll catch up with you in a second." He said and tossed Fox a couple of keys.

Fox snatched the keys from midair. "I hear ya." He said and went to open Mario's room.

As the lone doorkeeper he didn't get much space, but Mario loved his little place anyway. One color TV, a mini fridge below the TV, a ceiling fan, a bed-sofa and a small table in front of the same. Not the fanciest place to sleep in, but it was damn good for watching games. And JUST LOOK AT THAT!

"Nachos!" Fox yipped happily when his gaze met the big, tasty-looking, appealing nachos bowl, resting on the table on front of the couch. Fox ran and stashed himself on the couch, took a nacho and dipped it in the melted cheese, as he led it into his mouth and joyfully tasted one of Mario's few, but great talents.

* * *

X

* * *

"SHOOT, SHOOT! DAMMIT WILSON, SHOOT!" Both Fox and Mario freaked out when Herbert Wilson made it to the penalty area with the ball but the moron didn't shoot!

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" They both scowled when the damn goalkeeper threw himself at Wilson's legs and snatched the ball from his possession. "THIS JUST CAN'T BE!"

"Man this is the single most nerving game I've ever watched!" Mario growled.

_"-Kike this is the single most nerving game I've ever narrated!" _One of the commentators exclaimed.

"I understand you dude..." Mario said.

_"Agreed Richard, this is one hell of a game, and I'm sure everybody does, too. Two sticks for each side, Gastonville better wakes up if they wanna- HOLY MARY!" _The guy in the TV shouted when one of Gastonville's midfielders attempted a five-fingers shot. _"OW! Big save by Allan Kane, Santa Serena's goalkeeper!"_

"Damn Allan Kane!" Fox growled.

Just in the middle of that all, Mario realized there was something missing. He gazed around the room to make sure before asking. "Hey man, where's Mister Bill?"

"What? Bill? Oh- uh..." Fox tried to switch from excited to answering mode while taking another nacho. "He's not coming." He said, staring at the TV while enjoying his nacho.

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, but why?"

"He had a date with Grace and he skipped us." Fox replied.

"Date with miss Grace? This late?" Mario grinned suggestively. "Guy knows which night's better, doesn't he? Awoooooo!"

"Hehe, you pegged him well man." Fox chuckled.

"Yeah, he's a real lucky guy. I wish I also had someone to skip friends with, ya know?"

Just as he understood what Mario meant Fox huffed and frowned. That was a topic he'd never wanted to touch since... a long time. "Yeah, well, you know what they say, better alone than badly accompanied." Fox replied, trying to kill the topic. Though Mario wasn't listening to him.

"You know? Back in my natal town, I met this girl..." Mario started to fantasize away, about some girl Fox didn't give a sh*t about.

Fox closed his eyes in irritation. His plans seemed to have failed. He just sighed and resigned himself to listen to Mario's tale. Mario wasn't the kind of guy Fox would've ran away from or told him to shut up, and he wasn't starting tonight.

"She was an angel man, you know? Karen, that was her name, Karen Wong. She was the sweetest thing in the world..." Mario completely forgot about the game, and sunk himself into the memories of his sweet Karen, telling Fox about how incredible she was.

And for the rest of the match, Fox feigned to listen to Mario's tale, and tried to watch the game. It wasn't the same though, Mario had already killed his mood with the topic. With all the chatter about how Karen was sweet, beautiful, soft, warm, this and that, Fox couldn't enjoy himself the rest of the night. All he could no now was wait until either the game of the tale ended to leave, while he mindlessly ate nachos...

...

"-we then shared a last kiss, I dismissed her, and she boarded the ship toward Katina. I could see her waving her hand at me from far away, while she boarded the vessel. Then the ship took off... and I never saw her again..." Mario sighed the end of his story.

"Mmm..." Was everything Fox said, sitting on the couch, leaning forward, holding his chin with one hand and resting the other arm on his lap, not really listening to Mario, not caring about what he'd said.

Mario didn't appear to mind that. "So, have you ever had someone special in your life...?"

Fox kept silent for a few seconds, like he hadn't heard. "Uh-what?" Fox seemed to snap out of his mind. "No, negative, nope."

However, that wasn't the answer Mario was expecting. He was expecting some words about a certain blue someone.

"W-Wait mister Fox." Mario said confusedly. "What about-?"

"OH LOOK AT THE HOUR!" Fox quickly exclaimed and bolted up from the sofa. "I gotta go!" He said and walked towards the door quickly.

"Wait man! I thought you-"

"Good game huh?" Fox snapped before opening the door. "Too bad they lost!" He said and slammed the door past him.

Mario just stared at the door, confused. Then, he looked at the TV. It said, "Gastonville 1-0 Santa Serena", which made him frown.

"Lost?"

* * *

X

* * *

_"Jam... or... peanut butter?" _Bill brainstormed about what to add to his slice of bread. _"Hmm, maybe- _WHAT THE HELL?" He jump and screamed when he heard the banging sound of the apartment door being slammed open. Immediately after a very upset-looking vulpine stormed inside the place and collapsed on the sofa with a strong huff. He folded his arms and stared at the nothingness in front of him, pensively...

Bill stared at him for a few seconds with wide and confused eyes, while he processed the fact it was Fox. "MAN WHAT'S YOUR DAMN PROBLEM?" Bill scowled.

"Uh?" Fox turned his head at Bill. "Hi." He replied coldly and turned away again.

"Man you almost scared me to death!" Bill frowned. But Fox didn't reply, he didn't even seem to have heard him. "Hey, deaf, I'm talking to ya!"

"Yeah, sure..." Fox hummed.

Bill narrowed his eyebrows when he finally noticed Fox wasn't there. He walked around the sofa and stopped in front of him. "Hey man, you there?" Bill asked, waving his hand in front of the vulpine.

That seemed just about enough to wake him up. "What? Wha- Oh yeah, wassup?" Fox stammered.

Bill leaned back and huffed. "Damn, I was worried the zombies might have eaten your brain..." He said as he took a seat beside Fox.

"Yeah, they didn't, Mario did..."

"How's that?" Bill frowned.

"Oh, nothing, just another one of his boring stories..." Fox sighed. "So, how was your night with Grace?"

Bill immediately smiled. "Oh, fabulous man!" He sighed happily and took a seat beside Fox. "You know? I've been with her for so long... and yet I feel like I love her more each day!"

"Hm." Fox said unexcitedly. "Good for ya."

Bill didn't mind Fox's reply and accommodated himself on the sofa so he was facing him. "And you know what else?" He grinned and smacked his shoulder.

"What?"

"When I went to pick her up at her house, she introduced her friend Rachel to me..."

"Rachel?" Fox asked, though it felt like he didn't even care.

"Yep, Rachel." Bill replied. "A young, beautiful, voluptuous, charming vixen girl..." Bill said suggestively.

Fox's ears perked up, but not because he liked what Bill said. "Yeah?" He said, his arms still folded and still not looking at Bill.

Bill nodded. "Oh yeah, and guess who I though about when I met her...?" He asked rather pesteringly.

"Who?" Fox asked indifferently.

Bill frowned. "You, idiot!" He exclaimed and punched Fox's shoulder more strongly.

"Yeah?" Fox hissed and rubbed his arm. "So what?"

Bill smiled suggestively again. "So... I set you two up for a date!" He chuckled.

"Oh, really?" Fox hissed and stood up. "Well, then you may want to call her back and cancel that because I'm not going..." He growled and walked towards the kitchen.

Bill narrowed his eyebrows and watched him as he walked towards the kitchen. He stood up too and stared at Fox. "What?"

"You heard me Bill." Fox snapped. "I'm not going anywhere with anyone, so cancel that damn date you set..." He scowled.

Bill stared at Fox, sceptically. He let out a deep sigh and shook his head. "Man, don't do this to me..."

"What? What am I doing to you?" Fox asked as he searched the fridge.

"This!" Bill snapped. "Every time I try to hook you up with someone, you decline them!"

"Then why won't you stop trying to do so?" Fox snapped, too.

Bill glared at Fox for a good while. And he won't stop glaring back at him, too. Short after, Bill loosened his muscles and sighed. "Because this isn't good for you, man..." He said.

Fox didn't say anything. He feigned to be still searching the fridge, though he was also listening to Bill.

"And it's not fair for you, either." Bill said. "Man, I love you, you're my brother..." he said, " and it makes me sad to see you alone."

Fox peeked his head out of the fridge. "But, I'm not alone..."

Bill sighed. "Yeah, it may look like you're not, but you are..." Bill said. "You know, I'm not gonna be around here forever.." Bill said. And Fox dropped his ears. That was a thought he'd never liked. "Maybe my work will call my life, maybe, I'll make a family with someone, maybe Grace, someday, I hope..."

Fox closed his eyes and sighed.

"And when that time comes, I wouldn't want you to be alone..." Bill said, not quiting his eyes from Fox. "I want you to find someone man, I want to see you happy, with some good girl..."

Fox swallowed, his hand trembled while it grasped the mayonnaise jar, his eyes closed, and his throat made a knot. He didn't know what to say, though he knew why he didn't want to have anything to do with anyone...

"Is it, because of Krystal?" Bill suddenly asked.

"What?" Fox gasped, closed the fridge's door and frowned at Bill. "What did you say?"

"Krystal..." Bill said quietly. "You know, because of what she did, is that why you wouldn't get near any other woman?"

Fox opened his mouth but no sound came out. He was mute.

"You think you can't trust any other woman again? Is that it?"

Fox's silence persevered. He completely forgot about his quest for food ingredients, and walked off towards the couch. Bill just watched him silently, as he went and stopped just behind it, and leaned on the backrest, before letting out a deep and loud sigh.

Bill bit his lip and sighed. "I know..."

Fox heard him, but he didn't move, speak, or breathe.

"I know it did hurt..." Bill said again, gazing at Fox with the most concern and understanding a brother could look at you. "But you can't keep going on like this..." He said. "You could think it was your fault, but it wasn't man... the harm you did to her is nothing compared to what she did to you, how can you still torment yourself on it?"

Fox didn't reply.

"Are you gonna let that injury, stop you from being happy? Huh? Are you gonna suffer because of someone who doesn't even deserve your importance? Just look at what she did, she hurt you, she left you, she never returned again and she's probably somewhere out there, and you're probably the last thing she's thinking about..."

Upon saying this, Bill noticed how Fox's shoulders fell down, his head fell on the couch's backrest, and his tail went limp.

"As I already told you, I know it hurts, but that's probably the truth. Don't torment yourself on that anymore man, let go of the past, and look at your future. It's not worth worrying about someone who was capable of harming you... it's not worth suffering because of someone like that. Not every woman is like that man, there are good ones out there, loyal, sweet, lovable, and full of love to give."

Fox sighed. What Bill was saying was the truth. The truth and only the truth. It wasn't worth it. He'd gotten shot in many places, wounded several times, felt horrible pains, and yet he could always stand back up, and return to the fight. This wound he'd had for a few years now had kept him down on the ground, hurting and keeping him from getting up. Yeah, it'd been made by a very special someone, a someone he'd always dreamed about, and the shock, the hit it made had been tremendous.

However, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Fox had been hurting for a long while, and there was no going back to the past. She was gone, forever. Maybe Bill was right. Maybe she was out there, feeling good, maybe having fun with someone else, feeling absolutely no remorse for what she did. If she could get away, feeling so good about herself, why should he stay on the ground? Why should he keep aching on the floor, while she could smile and keep going forward? No sir, that wasn't going to happen. She wasn't going to have her way. One way or another, but Fox was gonna forget about her, about what she did. He was going to stand up, and continue moving forward.

Fox turned towards Bill, his body firm and his fists tightened. "You know what Bill? You're right." He said.

Bill smiled. "I know!" He chuckled and went to hug his brother.

Fox smiled and returned the hug, then pushed him at arm distance and looked at him. "Tell me where this will be. I'm going."

"Tomorrow night." Bill said. "I'll tell you the details later, for now go get what you'll need ready!"

"But it won't be until tomorrow..." Fox said.

"Yeah but I don't want you to be delayed because you can't find something to wear. Plus, men should ALWAYS get to a date place before women, didn't you know?"

Fox blinked a couple times. "Uh... okay, if you say so..." He said and went towards his bedroom.

Bill watched him leaving. "Yes!" He exclaimed silently and raised his arm victoriously, when Fox was out of sight. He was sure this would turn out good. And if not, they'll keep trying. Either way, things were gonna be right for Fox, again.

* * *

**Yes I know, you're probably wondering, how the hell can Cornerians have one of the best songs ever, Blitzkrieg Bop? Well, don't ask me, I don't know, either! It is one of the best songs ever, though. BESTEST OF BEST!  
**

**About that request you made, "someone", about rewriting Starfoxchic's "The Romantic Getaway", sorry but no. Neither me nor anyone else in this site have the right to rewrite someone's else fic, not even with public approval. Plus, I can't write it because only she knew where her fic was going, nobody else, added to the fact that she had a different way of thinking from mine, since she was a girl and I'm a guy. So, sorry :/**

**NO QUESTIONS ABOUT KRYSTAL! The fact that she was out of this chapter doesn't mean she's out of the fic, she's one of the protagonists! Yes she's gonna reappear in the future. SO NO QUESTIONS ABOUT HER!  
**

**Anyway, see you all later, I'll try to make next one faster! Don't forget to leave a review!**


	10. Duty

**_Thank you all for my first 5,000 hits!_**

**What's up everybody? I'm very sorry this took so long, but as you should know if you visit my profile often enough, my PC broke down a while back and I was unable to do anything. Plus, it's been hard for me to stay inspired. Most writers should know what I mean. Anyway, here's the tenth one, its a long one, but it was really fun to write, for the most part. Hope you all like it!_  
_**

* * *

Capital City, 12:10 pm.

A car stood quietly parked on the side of a lonely street. The huge, black sky raised itself over the now silent neighborhood, the glow of the street lights seemed like a total waste of energy. Stars glowed, wind blew, but there was no one to witness it. Everything was quiet.

Suddenly an irritating, metallic, squeaking sound filled the air. It came from a slowly opening door in the middle of a dark alley. A man peeked out from the door, then walked out and into the shine of the street lights. It was a familiar bulldog, Bill.

Bill gazed around the neighborhood. He didn't think he'd see anyone, and he was right, nobody was there. He turned at the dark alley and whispered. "All clear."

"Okay, let's get moving..."

A hooded figure walked out of the darkness from which Bill had come from, accompanied by another familiar husky, Carson. It was a delicate, fragile looking figure, short in comparison with the tall bulldog and his husky friend.

"You ready, Miss Stuart?" Bill asked gently.

"Um, yeah..." The girl below the hood replied with a slight sense of insecurity. A friendly hand was placed on her shoulder.

"C'mon Miss, we should get on our way." Carson said.

The girl nodded and followed the couple of men inside the lonely car below the street light.

...

"Don't forget to fasten your seat belt." Carson said while he fastened his own, in front of the driver's seat.

The girl hummed affirmatively and did as she was told. Bill, in the back of the car, examined the dark surroundings. Everything could be dangerous, anyone could be an enemy, each passing second they were in extreme danger. This was one of the most dangerous and delicate operations these couple agents had carried out in a long time; they had to be extremely careful.

No one spoke further of that and Carson turned the car on. It hummed into life and raised itself off the ground, thanks to the advanced and now relatively cheap gravity-diffusion technology. The car departed the place and left the street as alone as it was meant to be.

...

The streets were empty, making Carson's job pretty easy. They shouldn't get confident, though, there was the occasional drug-addict, driving like he was escaping from Chuck Norris.

None of the people inside the car made a sound besides breathing. Miss Stuart was specially silent and indifferent. She completely disliked what was going on. But for her own safety, she must leave the city. She must disappear. And at least, she seemed to understand that.

Out of the couple agents, Bill was especially aware. Carson could drive and be aware at the same time, but it just wasn't the same amount of focus. And lack of focus could get them killed at any moment. Suddenly, he remembered something.

"Hey... Carson..."

Carson hummed in response.

"I'm gonna drop Fox a call, okay?"

Carson took a moment before replying. "Make it quick."

"Sure." Bill said as he took out his cell phone from his pocket. He dialed a number and patiently waited for a reply.

* * *

X

* * *

The Apartment, 11:17 pm.

_"Do you have the time, to listen to me whine, about nothing and everything, all at once?"_ The phone on the nightstand beside the bed started singing, announcing an incoming call.

"Rsgrgsssmgssdfg..." Some strange sounds came from the bulk below the blankets on the bed.

_"I am one of those, melodramatic fools, neurotic to the bone, no doubt about-"_ The phone continued its rang before it was quickly snatched from the nightstand.

"Fozz hirr... wassup...?" Fox hummed lazily below the blankets.

_"Hey buddy, what's up?"_

Fox quickly recognized the voice. "Dat you man? What happened?"

_"Nothing, just wanted to tell you we just took off."_

"Oh... okay. Is everything alright?" Fox asked. His eyes were still closed and his voice was still sleepy.

_"Yup, everything's A-Okay as of now. We're open for anything, though..."_

Fox sighed. "Be careful man, I dun want you t'die just because of some rich brat..."

_"Don't call her that Fox, this is not her fault."_

"Maybe, but still, she should've walked away from that place before those guys noticed she was eavesdropping on them. What was she doing in that place anyway?"

_"I don't know either."_

Fox sighed again. "Well, what are you gonna do after you get her there?"

_"I couldn't tell you. For now we should take her safely to her destination where she can be safe while the police investigates on the triad that's after her."_ Bill said through the phone._ "We may get the order to bodyguard her while she's in Saint Louis, though, as well as we may not."_

"Dude, you stress me, you know that?" Fox snorted.

_"Hehe, sorry man..."_

"Just be sure to get back when you're done. Oh and before I forget, put me through to Carson."

* * *

X

* * *

Bill removed the phone from his ear and stretched his arm forward to the driver side. "Fox wants to talk to you."

Carson took the phone from Bill's hand and placed it on his ear. "What's up Foxie?"

_"Not much. Just wanted to say Be Careful to you too."_

"Man, thank you." Carson smiled.

_"Also, I want you to keep an eye on Bill. I wouldn't wall to tell Grace any bad news."_

Carson sighed. "Yeah, I know... don't worry, I'll make sure he stays out of trouble."

_"Thanks. And good night, I have to sleep. Be back soon."_

Carson chuckled, "sure Foxie, sleep tight."

A beep announced that the call was over.

"Take." Carson handed back the phone to Bill.

Bill snatched the phone and pocketed it, then returned to Aware Mode. Everyone went back to the previous silent state, and once again they were alone in the city.

...

Road Security Booth, 01:16 am.

Carson spotted the booth around fifty meters forward. He'd already seen the sign back on the road, and he'd been looking out for the booth since then. He saw a man coming out of the booth, dressed like an officer and carrying a flashlight. Carson drove and stopped beside him. The road guard walked up to the driver's window.

"ID and permits, please." The wolf asked.

Carson handed him his elector credential and a magnetic card. The wolf ran an eye over the ID card, and slid the magnetic card through a reader on some kind of device. It said:

_

* * *

Name: Red, Carson._

_Age: 36_

_Serial: 35D1-56GH-T67K-GWQ9_

_Status: Green._

_GOVERNMENT SERVICE. HIGHEST CLEARANCE LEVEL.

* * *

_

The wolf looked at Carson and raised his eyebrow. He didn't make it any more difficult and handed back his things to Carson. "Thank you mister, have a nice trip."  
"Thanks." Carson smiled and pocketed his things. He then stepped on the accelerator and drove forward.

The wolf watched the car as it got farther and farther, eventually getting lost in the darkness of the road. He drew out what looked like some kind of radio comm, and turned it on. "We've got them."

_"You sure?"_

"Yeah, they've just passed through here."

_"Details?"_

"Black Viper Spangler, convertible, looked like last year's model."

_"Understood. Wait for Schwimmer and follow them closely, but try not to look suspicious."_

"Affirmative sir." The wolf said. "What about the dead body?" He said and looked back at the booth.

_"Leave it where it is, I'll send someone over to dispose of it."_

"Fine." The wolf replied and turned the radio off. As if it was a cue, a black SUV truck showed up and stopped in front of the wolf.

The driver, a red fox, peeked his head out. "Let's go Manson."

"Just in time Woodward." The wolf said and entered the SUV. They took off in less time than it takes to blink, trying to catch up with the black Spangler. "Let's go after them."

* * *

X

* * *

The Apartment, 10:41 am.

_"-WAKE UP! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE UP!" _The radio-alarm clock began its annoying daily routine._ "Get out of bed lazy boy! It's a beautiful day today here in our beautiful capital! It's a nice 54° outside, partially clouded, perfect for a walk at Dixon Park!"_

"Shut up..." Fox slowly raised his hand over the radio and smashed the crap out of it.

Fox sat upright on the bed, then yawned loudly and stretched his body up. "A walk...? If I had the time, I'd rather sleep..." He muttered. "Instead, I have to work..." He said unexcitedly as he slid out of bed, heading for the kitchen, bent on having breakfast.

As lazy as someone can be at morning, Fox wasn't going to cook up some eggs and bacon. Instead, he poured corn flakes and milk into a bowl, turned the TV on, and sat down to eat his cereal. The local news were passing on.

_"Good morning everyone, thanks for watching us in Channel 7, I'm Herbert Redmoor and here are the news."_

Fox ate and listened to the ridiculous noticeboard-like tune in the TV as the news bulletin began.

_"Neighbors of the Acres avenue made a manifestation to complain about the death of a 7-year old girl, identified as Helen Webber, who died by a stray shot during a firefight between street gangs in the neighborhood. The girl was promptly transported to Santiago's General Hospital, where she later died."_ The reporter said.

_"The head of the manifestation was the girl's aunt, who claimed that there wasn't enough security in their neighborhood."_. Fox snorted and continued hearing. _"The commander of SPD Julian Statham replied by doubling up patrols on the area, although neighbors say that's not enough. In other news, s-"_ Fox got sick and turned the TV off. He was depressed enough knowing that his brother was risking his life outside, he didn't need to get any more worried than he already was with people's day-to-day stupidity.

Plus, it was already time to go to work. Leaving his now empty bowl in the sink, he grabbed his things and departed for his job.

* * *

X

* * *

Safe Relays establishment, 11:11 am.

The sounds of keyboard keys being pressed filled the air as Grace's hands danced on the keyboard of her computer behind her desk. The sudden sound of the front doors being opened called her attention. She smiled, seeing as it was Fox.

"Hey hon, how's it hangin'?" The girl asked brightly. However Fox didn't seem to hear her. He just kept walking forward, with his sight fixed on the infinite.

"Um, sweetie?"

Nothing.

"FOX!"

"WHAT!" Fox leapt in surprise and looked fearfully at the altered collie.

Grace, who had stood up from her seat to yell at Fox, sighed and sat down again. "Nothing... other than you ignoring me!" She frowned.

Fox stared sceptically at her, as if he didn't understand what she said. He just was still processing the information.

Fox let out a sigh, "Sorry Grace, I... I just have too much in my mind lately... that's all...".

The girl didn't quite know what would have Fox this worried. Usually, he wasn't much of a worrywart.

But this time, it looked like something was really wrong. Fox had these bags under his eyes, this unquiet gaze, and in all honesty he looked like sh*t. Something probably hadn't let him sleep last night. The girl leaned forward on her desktop and gazed at her vulpine friend. "Is everything alright, sweetheart? You look pretty bad." She said will had the sweetness and concern a sweet girl like her could have.

Fox shook his head, "It ain't nothing..."

"Hey, c'mon honey! Aren't we fwends?" Grace pouted childishly.

"Um... yeah, but, I uh..."

"But nothing'!" Grace cut off. "Take a seat and tell it all to ol' Grace!"

Fox huffed and bit his lip. He couldn't give her the counter anyway, she was his friend and his almost-sister-in-law on top of that, so he decided to talk with her.

He couldn't tell her the truth, however. What could he make up to fool Grace about the truth? Hmm? Too much worrying? It should be easy, he thought.

"Well..." Fox started as he sat down on the other side of the information desk which Grace was behind of. "It is... it is about... um..." What to make up? Hmm, good idea! "Y-your friend..." Fox solved his problem. "About your friend Rachel."

Grace put on a confused face. "Rachel? Rachel Myers? My friend?"

"Yup, that one."

"What's up with her? Aren't you two coming along well?" Grace asked worryingly, because during the time of Fox's and Rachel's first dates together, it made her heart so happy hearing Rachel say so many good things about Fox, and Bill's reports on how Fox spoke so many good things about Rachel.

"Ummm... in f-fact... uh..." Fox couldn't say he didn't like her.

He liked her. In fact, she had made Fox forget almost completely about Krystal - with a little help from time itself, of course. All the nights where Fox would think over once and again and again about Krystal and suffer by her betrayal before falling asleep, were replaced by quiet, peaceful snores and thoughts about this new, sweet vixen. Nice, happy memories about her made Fox forgot those sad ones about Krystal, the woman who destroyed his heart, and his life all the same. And it was rather easy, because nobody wants to hang onto bad things, am I right? Less when there is something better at hand.

Now the only way that woman could click into his mind was by hearing her name - which was unlikely because ever since the start Bill had been really careful about mentioning that name in Fox's presence - or by seeing her face. And that was even more unlikely.

So he had to think of something else. "Um, she... she... her... her feet stink..." Fox barely knew what he was saying.

"What?" Grace frowned. "Her feet... stink?"

"Yeah..." Fox nodded casually.

Grace started to doubt Fox had insomnia problems. And even about his current mental state. "A-are you high...?" She asked and retreated a little.

"Uh... no?"

Grace nodded slowly, not quitting her confused stare from Fox. "Right..."

"Right."

"And, that's why you're sad..."

"Uh-huh..."

"Because her feet stink..."

"Yup."

Grace licked her lips and nodded a couple times. "Alright... then, uh, I suggest you wait for Hamilton... over there..." She said and pointed at the farthest chair in the place.

Fox took a quick glance at the chair and frowned. "Grace I'm not crazy!"

"Then tell me what is it really what's eating you, will ya?" The girl said quietly and gave Fox a powerful stare.

Fox was taken aback by her penetrating eyes, and wondered how Bill would resist it if they were ever to get married. But at the moment he had worse problems. What could he say to the girl? He couldn't tell Grace Bill was a secret agent lest that he was currently risking his life on a mission. For all she currently knew Bill was training army soldiers on a island far away. She was always told that, when Bill had to go on a assignment.

"I- uh, I-"

"Graaace?" The two suddenly heard a female voice coming from behind.

Fox's ears perked up at the sound of such a soft voice: Rachel. He spun on his heels and gazed at the beautiful square.

Rachel walked in, with her long, white hair tied in a ponytail at the back and her nice forelock of hair at the front. Her fur was a silky brown, blue eyes, and A-figure. She walked almost casually for a couple meters before noticing Fox was also there.

"Gra- oh... h-hi Fox!" The vixen said happily.

Fox scratched the back of his neck as he fought against the blush the girl produced. "Uh, hi Rach!" He smiled.

Rachel walked and stood in front of Grace's desk. "I didn't knew you'd be here..." She said.

"Why? You know I work here..." Fox smiled.

Rachel rolled her eyes around a little and met Grace's. "Well, you're usually late..."

"What? Oh, hehehehehe... yeah... sorry." Fox said and placed his hand on his neck.

Rachel giggled. "No problem..."

Grace just watched the lovely scene, wondering how Fox could have loved any other woman before this one... if he did love her now. She couldn't tell anyway. They had never gone past the point of "simple friends" ever since they two met each other, and it made Bill and Grace crazy. All they wanted was to see their friends engaged to a nice someone.

"Well I, I better go, I wouldn't want to incommode you two's chat..." Fox said and walked away towards the garage area.

"Bye Fox..." Rachel said and waved her hand. Fox waved his hand back in reply.

"H-hey you!" Grace frowned, "where'd you think you're going? You still have to tell me wha-"

"Bye-bye!" Fox quickly exited to the garage and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Grace with the words still on her tongue.

"Hmph!" Grace scowled, offended. "How dare he!" She growled and sat back down on her chair.

Rachel watched him go until he was out of sight and took a seat on the desk. "What's gotten into him?" She asked, not quitting her gaze from the door he went through.

Grace huffed and laid her head on the desk. "I dunno... idiot got away before I could squeeze it out of him..." She sighed.

"Huh... same old Fox..." Rachel hummed and leaned on the desk, too.

Grace immediately straightened up. "And speaking of him... what's been going on between you two?" She asked with curiosity.

Rachel smirked nervously, "What? Do you mean us?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Grace frowned. "You and Fox! Has anything happened yet?"

"G-Grace!" Rachel stammered. "How dare you? How can you think-?"

"Oh please, girl." Grace cut off. "I can see the gleam on your eyes every time he walks in. You can't fool me, there is something between you two." She said tenaciously.

Rachel was taken aback by Grace's powerful stare. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a short, dry sound. "Oh... oh Grace, I- uh, I dunno what to say..." The vixen said downheartedly and sighed.

Grace immediately felt sorry for her friend. She had expected something more happy. "Oh, honey, I didn't mean to offend you-"

"No, it isn't that..." Rachel said. "It's alright. It's just, so... despairing seeing how nothing moves forward..."

"You mean with Fox?"

"Yeah..." Rachel nodded. "He is a good friend, I like him a lot, but... it just stays that way. It's like he can't love anyone... when we first met, you told me to make him forget about Kry-"

"Rach no." Grace cut off immediately. "Not here."

"Oh sorry. About, you-know-who..."

Grace nodded, "Mm-hmm."

Rachel sighed. "But I don't think I can..."

Grace sighed. That was something she'd have never wanted to hear. She was sure Fox would forget Krystal, but, it seemed like not.

"Well, and what about you?" Grace asked.

"Me? What's with me?"

"Do you..." And saying this, Grace brought her hand to her own heart, "love him?"

Rachel stood silent for a good while, startled by the question. "Well, I... I'm not going to lie to you. I feel... really attracted to him..." She said and tried to hide a slightly blushing on her face.

Grace's heart jumped up in happiness upon hearing this. She smiled widely. "YES! That's what I wanted to hear!" She exclaimed happily. If she did love him, it was only matter of time before Fox fell for her charms, too.

But Rachel didn't think that way. She couldn't say it was a lost case, but the way Fox behaved... he was very friendly, but it was nowhere near romantic. It was like he couldn't love anyone in that way.

So she had to interrupt Grace's celebration. "Um, Grace... why are you so happy? It's just me, not him..."

Grace's smile faded into a frown. "What? You doubt of yourself? Of your capacity to seduce a man? Do you think you're not enough for him? Is that it?"

"Grace I never said that!" Rachel scowled.

"Then don't come up with any buts, girl. That guy's going to fall for you or else I stop naming myself Grace Smith!" Grace grinned.

Rachel was about to retort but she decided against it. Maybe, in some remote future, it could become true. "I hope so, Grace..."

* * *

X

* * *

Meanwhile...

_HONK! HONK!_

_BEEP! BEEP!_

_"Hurry the f*ck up!"_

_"Move out of the way assh*le!"_

Day-to-day street sounds filled the air inside and around the deliveries wagon. Fox had just started his shift, currently driving north to deliver a package that pretty much looked like a video game console.

His nervous eyes were fixed on the road. His hands grasped firmly around the handle wheel, all the muscles of his body were tense, his leg couldn't stop jumping on the acceleration pedal. He looked like a criminal on Death Row, or maybe worse.

"Watch it, idiot!"

"You watch it jack*ss!" Fox quickly shouted back angrily at the damn granny that almost crashed him and was despondent enough to blame him.

Fox tried to settle down after realizing what he'd just called the poor granny. He sighed. This wasn't something Fox would do often, but he was very nervous at that moment. Bill was on a mission somewhere far away, and it'd kept him uneasy ever since last night. The poor Fox couldn't even sleep until late at night. All the time he was worried Bill might die, might get injured or something worse. It felt like the fear he always felt when his team was on a mission, risking their lives. But this had the added effect of knowing that if Bill was ever to come across some danger, he wouldn't be there to help out.

And he couldn't help feeling like that. Bill was his brother, after all.

Since they were kids, Fox and Bill had been like the brothers they never had. And ever since their reunion, that feeling came back. And he couldn't afford knowing that Bill may not be able to return alive. Many other times he and Grace had gotten the scare of their lives when Bill suddenly came back to be tossed into emergency surgery because of a lethal wound. Grace was told many times that they were all accidents involving armed rookies during the training sessions Bill "had" to impart at the Army. Only he and Fox knew the truth.

The traffic light above a intersection glowed red. Fox's little rambling ended and he stopped.

He waited impatiently for the light to turn green. However, it didn't.

He waited and waited, for what seemed like ages, but the damn light wouldn't switch. Why? Why was the light doing that? Why wouldn't it turn green? Stupid light...

"Turn the hell green already you damn b*tch..." Fox growled through gritting teeth. But did the light obey? No, it didn't.

Fox's sight suddenly switched from the light to the cell phone on the board. He stared at the phone nervously.

He had accorded with Bill to give him a call often. But only Bill could call, not Fox. Because they both, more than anyone, knew that any moment could be a bad moment. And if Fox called at a bad moment, and Bill's phone ringed, it could mean the end for Bill.

In addition, Bill was more likely to have switched his phone off, to avoid anyone from calling him. So all Fox could do now was wait. He didn't want to wait, but he had to.

Finally, the light seemed to answer for Fox's prays, and it turned green. "Just about time..." Fox huffed and stepped on the accelerator.

...

"... yeah, just sign here..." Fox pointed at a small line on the board the huge, old mastiff was holding.

"Uh-huh..." The dog nodded and did as Fox said.

"Oh, thank you. Here's your package." Fox handed the mastiff a thin package.

The dog picked it and nodded "Thanks," then went back inside his house.

Fox nodded his reply and walked back to the wagon, gazing at the board, smiling because of how weird the dog's signature was. It looked like a scribble, but pretty elaborated. He could almost, with a lot of effort, make out a name in the illegible lot of lines and curves. "W... wa... wall... ac-"

_"We all live in Yellow Submarine, Yellow Submarine, Yellow Submarine!"_ Fox's phone started ringing.

"Uh? When did I put that song as my ring tone?" Fox narrowed his eyebrows confusedly and reached for the phone in his pocket.

_"We all live in Ye-!"_ Beep!

"Yo?" Fox answered casually.

_"Fox what's up!"_ A bulldog yelled from the other side.

Fox's eyes widened. "Bill! That you?"

* * *

X

* * *

A lonesome self-service store on a road, miles away...

"Hell yeah!" Bill smiled. "How's your day been buddy?"

_"Is that a real question?"_ Fox hissed from the other side,_ "I've been worried the whole damn day! You take just a little more time to call and I might have gone nuts!"_

"Oh, well, yeah, sorry buddy..." Bill scratched his nape. "It's just that we've been busy the whole day."

_"Why's that?"_

"Man, truth is, this girl ain't as considerate as I would've thought she'd be! She's been the whole damn day giving us orders and crying about how she's hungry, she's thirsty, I'm cold, I'm hot **(In the good sense for all you dirty-minds)**, I'm bored, I, I, I!" Bill spat. "I swear if I hear anymore complaints on her part I'm gonna murder- Oh, hello Carson!" Bill stopped and laughed nervously when he noticed Carson was glaring at him from his left.

_"Carson? Is Carson there?"_

"Who is it William?" Carson asked when he saw the phone.

"Oh, this? It's Fox. Wanna say hi?" Bill answered.

Carson shook his head. "I'll pass. Say hello for me, and hurry up, kid's done doing her shopping..." Carson sighed and walked away, towards the car.

"Sure thing." Bill nodded and put the phone back on his ear. "Sorry 'bout the little inconvenience, I'm back."

_"Yeah, no problem. Is Carson there?"_

"Well, he was, but he's gone now. He says hi, by the way."

_"Tell him I also say hi!"_

"Hehe, sure brother. Hey, I have to go, talk to you later, okay?"

_"Pffft, okay. Just don't take so long next time, huh?"_

"Sure thing, bro. Bye."

_"Bye."_

Bill pressed end call on the phone and pocketed it. He then turned his head at the car, where Carson and Miss Stuart, a young, gray wolf with brown eyes, waited for him. He trotted off towards the car and entered it, then Carson stepped on the accelerator and they took off.

It was already midday...

...

08:12 pm.

Night had fallen upon the land a while ago and the passengers of the black Spangler were craving for some sleep. Especially Miss Stuart, she wasn't accustomed to sleep so little and be awake so long. Neither of them had slept for a good while - they had only stopped at a motel last night at dawn and got up again early in the morning, they were really tired.

Still, Bill didn't stop watching the car's surrounding's with his utmost attention. When it's calm, they said, it's because the storm's approaching. The wish of finding some place to sleep had increased, when he suddenly felt Miss Stuart fall asleep on his lap. "Um... hey Carson... where's the nearest motel around here?" Bill asked uneasily.

Carson opened his mouth to reply and was surprised that a yawn came out instead. "Awnnnn... we're almost... awnnn... there, William..." Carson gave into the tiredness and yawned a couple more times.

"Okay... then hurry up before you fall asleep and crash the car..." Bill said, "And so I can get this girl off me..." He thought and gazed at the sleeping youth.

"Sure sure... look, there it is..."

Bill tried to look further on the road.

Effectively, there was a well-looking motel on the right side. There was also a big, neon sign saying "Good-Nights Motel."

"Just in time... awnnnn..."

...

Bill was leaned against the parked Spangler, waiting for Carson to come back with their room's key from the front desk. He stood up when he saw the husky walking towards him.

"And?" Bill asked.

"17." Carson replied. "Bring the girl." He said and walked off.

"Oh sure, leave her to me..." Bill hissed mentally and opened the back door of the Spangler. He picked up the snoozing girl, carefully swept her on his arms and followed Carson to room 17, doing his best not to wake the sleeping girl up.

Room seventeen was located near one of the edges of the building. Carson held the room's door open so Bill could get the girl in, then closed it, after giving the surroundings a last verification gaze. He then tight-locked the door and saved the key in his breast pocket.

The room was plain simple. There was a queen-sized bed on the left, a cheap TV set in front of the bed, a bathroom to the bottom, and a couple chairs. Bill gently laid Miss Stuart on the bed, took off her boots - not losing the carefulness in order not to wake her up - and then covered her with the bed sheet. The wolf seemed to breathe relief, then sighed and continued sleeping. Bill then straightened up and turned to Carson. "Do we make this like last time?" He asked.

"Sure. But now, I wanna sleep first and watch later." Carson replied.

"Sure." Bill shrugged.

Carson nodded and went to sit down on a small, wooden swing chair. "Hey pal, can you toss me one of those?" Carson asked and pointed at one of the couple pillows that were on the bed.

Bill nodded and picked the one Miss Stuart wasn't using, then tossed it to Carson.

Carson caught it in midair and placed it behind his head. "Ahhh... that's what I was talking about..." He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Sleep tight buddy..."

Carson just stuck his thumb up, propped himself on the chair and went back on trying to sleep.

Bill sighed, thinking what to do now. He couldn't stay up the whole night, so he started looking around for a chair to sit on. He found one just beside the bed. So he went and sat down on it, just beside Miss Stuart, on the bed's right. Carson was sleeping on a swing chair on the left of the same.

For the next few hours, there wasn't much to do, see, or think. The darkness outside kept Bill from seeing further from the motel's parking lot. There weren't any stars in the sky, the clouds eclipsed them all. The song of the crickets could be heard from the forest behind the motel, and it was the only thing that gave the air a sense of existence.

Bill fought hard against tiredness, he couldn't sleep, he mustn't sleep, and he tried his best to keep his senses as sharp as possible. He had to be aware, of everyone and everything. It was his duty to protect the girl snoozing by his right, he couldn't let anything happen to her, and it was equally his responsibility to protect Carson as well, while he slept.

Bill found a thing to think about during his little rambling. Miss Stuart. A tall, slender, around twenty-old year girl. What did she think about all this? Surely Bill felt upset by babysitting this youth, but what did she think of the deal?

Surely she didn't feel better than him. It should be horrible to be suddenly thrust into a car with a couple of unknown men, and being transported far away from your family, your friends, and your life overall, by these same men.

Even so, it was all for her own safety, and at least she seemed to understand that. She had witnessed a intellectual movement between two powerful triads, she had seen faces and heard information, and she was surely to be pursued by these triads by now.

Her father, Drake Stuart, a prominent, skillful lawyer, had chosen the CSA to make the transporting, since he didn't trust airlines nor public transports at all. They left traces of a person's movement behind, and organizations like the triads had the ability to follow these traces and track people down. Safer, more private transporting like the one these couple of agents offered was far better than a public transport.

Bill's ears twitched when an unlikely sound filled the air. He stood up from his chair and went to the window. He carefully took a peek through it, and saw a black truck entering the parking lot.

Bill narrowed his eyes. One man, a brown dog, got out from the car and headed towards the front desk. Bill tried to see if there were any other persons inside the truck, but the darkness didn't let him. He kept on watching the newcomers.

It took him a good while, but the man finally came back from the front desk. He entered the truck and drove away to the right of their room, 17. He cursed silently when the truck got out of sight.

Bill waited for a long while to see if the man showed up again. He waited for one minute... two minutes... five... ten... fifteen... nothing. Nothing happened.

He sighed and sat back down on his chair, assured that the man was just an ordinary guy, who was most likely asleep now. Now sure of this, Bill went back to his little, distractive rambling, until...

TOCK-TOCK-TOCK! Someone started knocking on the door.

The suddenness of the sound made Bill jump on his spot. Thankfully, whoever was outside was careful enough to knock softly, and the sound didn't bother neither Carson nor Miss Stuart. Bill silently stood up from his spot and walked over towards the door, slowly. He un-holstered the gun hidden within his jacket, and hid it behind his back, while he took a peek through the door's eye. It was the same dog from minutes ago. He didn't look suspicious, but Bill couldn't get confident anyway.

Bill closed the chain of the door and barely opened it. "Yeah, what do you want?" He asked through the crevice of the door.

"Um, excuse me good man, but, could you spare a minute?" The dog asked.

"What do you need?"

"Well, you see, I can't get my TV working, and I figured out you might as well have some knowledge on that kind of technology. Can you help?"

"Ask the clerk." Bill said and was about to close the door, but...

"Hold on!" The man said. "Please good man, I've already told the clerk but he proves no use. Perhaps you can fix it?"

"No I can't. Go back to your room and leave me alone." Bill growled and proceeded to close the door.

"No, please!" The man exclaimed and filtered his hand through the crevice to keep the door open. "Please good man, I'm sure we can come to a deal. What would you want in payment?"

Bill's patience ran out and in one quick movement he was aiming the gun on his hand right at the man's head.

The man gasped and widened his eyes. "F*ck off idiot." Bill hissed

"W-well, s-sorry, buddy..." The man stuttered. Bill immediately felt a cannon placed against his stomach. "But you see, I'm afraid I cannot do that..." And upon saying this, Bill saw another three men showing up behind the dog, each one carrying an assault rifle.

"Dammit..."

"So, are you going to open the door, yes or no?"

Bill was at a loss of words. What could he do now? They were screwed. He had to think up something, and fast.

After a short period of rationalizing, that felt like ages, Bill understood that there was no escape way from their predicament. Still, he had to try something. It would be all or nothing. "Not so fast, here comes the police!" He exclaimed.

"Huh?" To Bill's good luck, the squadron turned back to see if it was true. They only saw a empty parking lot, and immediately after heard the door slamming shut and Bill putting all the locks on the door.

The brown dog quickly spun towards the door and roared, "You're not getting anywhere with that girl!" and immediately turned at his men. "Throw this sh*t down!"

The four men started kicking the door, two after two, until it receded and fell down. They stormed inside the room, turned the lights on and started searching for Bill and Miss Stuart. They found no one, though.

"Damn! Where are they?" One of the guys, a brusque-looking wolf, growled.

"Dusty! Over here!" They heard the voice of one of their men coming from the bathroom.

"Don't tell me they escaped through the bathroom's window!" Dusty, the brown dog, scowled and ran towards the bathroom, followed by the rest of his men.

They reached the bathroom and saw their comrade, a fox, vaulting over the bathroom's window, which was big and was wide open. "Guess!" He said when he saw his comrades.

"Those bastards have seen too many movies..." Dusty chuckled. "Go get 'em!" He roared.

Each and everyone of them jumped through the window of the bathroom and ran inside the forest, all of them but Dusty. The dog snatched a cell phone from his pocket and pressed just one key. "Pinball! Bastard's took the girl away!"

_"Talk, Dusty."_

"They went through the forest. Don't deem the motel as empty, though, have Shoe and Scratch search the surroundings once more, the rest of the SUVs search the forest."

_"You got it, Dusty. Over."_

Dusty chuckled when the call ended. "Over? Sure."

* * *

X

* * *

The sound of moving rocks, grass and ground was the only thing telling Bill that life still went on. That, and the smell of the trees. Apart from that, all he could see was nothing. Anyone else in that thick darkness would have thought he was unconscious or asleep, or dead.

They were in a trouble, but they weren't going to give up. Bill could hear Carson and Miss Stuart running in front of him. Even though they couldn't see anything, they ran for their lives. Or rather for Miss Stuart's life. They ought to be careful, one bad step and they would trip over.

Suddenly, Bill's eyes met light. Moonlight. They reached a clearing in the forest. He could see Carson stop to catch his breath, and Miss Stuart doing the same. Carson only needed to take a few breathes in before he was up and running again, he was trained for these kind of efforts after all, and the long run they made just a second ago didn't dazzle him at all. But unlike him, Miss Stuart almost fell on the ground without any breath. She could have a good shape, but she just wasn't accustomed to these kind of races.

Bill made a note of that. He had to be very careful about Miss Stuart, she could get exhausted and fall down. He had to keep and eye on her to avoid such a situation.

Finally, Bill caught up with them. He breathed a couple times before he spoke. "What do we do now?" He huffed.

Carson took a couple seconds to think. He looked rather calm, considering the predicament they were in. "Well... I think we should keep running, and hope to- Hmph!" All the calm was taken from him when a blaster shot flew past them, barely missing Carson's head for a few inches. It was followed by several more shots, which luckily also missed their marks.

"Fine by me!" Bill quickly grabbed Miss Stuart's hand and ran like a bat out of hell further inside the forest. Carson didn't speak further and raced behind Bill and the girl, at the same time he un-holstered his blaster to try and return the fire, luckily he would hit some marks and have less stalkers behind them.

The trio ran for who knows how long. It was hard to see, but they managed to make their way through the harsh terrain. At least they could see good enough not to run into a tree or bush.

Carson could hear the group of men stalking them, screaming as they ran.

"Don't let them get away!"

"They went that way!"

"I can see them!"

They would often see a shot fly past them, but luckily the majority hit trees or rocks in their flight paths. It made Carson fearful they might sparkle a fire, but it made him relieved that the ground and plants were wet, so even if still there, there were smaller chances of a fire.

The wetness on the ground was also a worrying fact. It made the land harder to cross, they had to make a lot more effort to run, and they left footprints more easily. He doubted he had to worry about footprints in this darkness, but he'd seen that their stalkers had flashlights, so the chance was still there.

"Ravine ahead!" Carson suddenly heard Bill shout. He quickly turned his head forward and saw the end of the forest, and a downhill full of rocks and bushes.

"Ungh!" Carson exclaimed and tripped with a rock. He started rolling full speed down the hill. Unable to regain his feet, he fought to control his downhill roll to avoid hitting any rocks. He succeeded in avoiding the bigger ones, but many small ones dug into his fur and head. It hurt, but he had to focus on keeping himself safe.

Fortunately Bill had seen the ravine before they met it, and was currently running downhill, still hand-on-hand with Miss Stuart. The girl was a lot less skillful than Bill, but with a little help from the big male she was able to keep up with the pace.

Bill looked back at the less luckier husky, rolling his way downhill. His heart skipped a beat, but he couldn't stop and help him now, not when their pursuers were already...

"Carson look out!" Bill shouted when a rain of blaster shots flew upon both him and Carson. Their stalkers were atop the hill, they didn't follow behind them, instead they tried for a distant annihilation. Bill quickly continued running forward, into another section of the forest, and hoped that Carson would make it.

The darkness returned as Bill ran into the forest. He could still hear the screams

of their stalkers, yelling and roaring to capture them. It looked like they weren't going to give up until they had laid hands on Miss Stuart. However Bill had more than decided to keep that from happening. They hadn't gotten this far, just to fail. They hadn't made this long, long trip in vain. They were going to make it, or at least just Miss Stuart, cost what it cost.

"You there bro?" Bill called to make sure Carson was still following them from behind.

The reply was barely audible. "Yah yah, I'm here!" He heard what was surely Carson's voice, but way behind him.

It was relieving to hear him, but that didn't change the fact that he was still way too much behind.

"Mister Grey!" Bill heard Miss Stuart exclaim.

"Yeah what's it?" Bill panted frantically, he was exhausted.

"Can you hear that?"

Bill tried to pay attention to the sounds as he ran. He almost laughed when he heard what was surely what had caught Miss Stuart's ears. "A waterfall!" He panted. He was surprised that they ran so close to a river without noticing it, either he was losing his focus or he was really exhausted.

"Carson, a waterfall!" Bill shouted. He got scared when he heard no response. "Carson!"

"Right here!" Carson replied late. He was still far behind, but at least, he still was.

"There's a waterfall ahead!"

"Don't stop! It's a chance!"

Bill didn't reply, but he took into consideration what Carson said. Eventually, the waterfall came into view. It was still meters ahead, giving them a chance to think things over.

"Miss we're going to have to jump." Bill panted, still running.

"Wha?"

"It's our only chance!" Bill replied. "It's all or nothing!"

Miss Stuart was afraid of heights, but surely, she was more afraid of guns and bad guys. Without needing much thinking, she nodded and dashed with Bill towards the waterfall.

They finally reached the end of the way. "Jump when I say so!" Bill said.

"Right!" Miss Stuart replied, and grasped Bill's hand more strongly.

Finally, they reached the very edge, where another step took you over the highest of falls. "JUMP!"

The next second they weren't exactly conscious, they only knew they were flying. The safety of ground was left behind and now they were above a fifty-meters tall fall.

Miss Stuart started screaming as she felt that awful sensation well-up on her stomach. Bill decided against it and kept a silent fall, but Miss Stuart's screams were surely to draw their stalkers close to them.

Gravity didn't take long to bring them down. The splash was loud, the hit hard, and the pain, harsh. Not a second after, Bill started swimming upwards, not losing the grip on Miss Stuart's hand ever.

Bill's head was the first to pop out of the water. He didn't have to take much air in, then pulled Miss Stuart up.

"Ahhh! Mister Grey! Mister Grey!" Miss Stuart whined and cried and trashed around.

"I'm here, I'm here!" Bill said as softly as he could, trying to calm down the scared girl.

"Don't let go of me, please don't! I don't wanna drown!"

"Please calm down, I'll not let go of you. Now, get on my back." Bill said. Miss Stuart did as Bill said and positioned herself on his back. She wrapped her arms firmly around his neck, and then Bill swam to the shore.

It didn't take him too much effort to make it to the shore. Even when he reached it, he didn't let Miss Stuart off of him until they were hidden inside the forest. They hid behind a group of bushes and crouched down. "Are you alright?" Bill quickly asked.

"Yeah... I-I'm alright..." Miss Stuart sobbed. "It was just too scary..." She shivered from cold. She was all wet, and the air was chilling.

"Yeah, sorry you had to go through that..." Bill sighed. He was also shivering from the cold, although much less than Miss Stuart. Suddenly, he remembered one very important thing. "Oh God, CARSON! Did he make it?"

He couldn't just stay there and wonder. He stood up and signaled Miss Stuart to be quiet. "Stay hidden, I'll be back soon." He said and cautiously crept towards the riverside.

"Hey, where are you going!"

Bill didn't reply, he just kept walking towards the riverside. Once he reached it, he quickly hid behind a bush as soon as he saw a flashlight shine on the ground near him. The group of armed men was searching for them from atop the waterfall. Nobody was risking that jump.

...

"Can you see them?" Dusty asked. Every one of the men carrying the flashlights answered No, and continued their search. Dusty lost his patience. "Damn it! I can't believe they got away!" He growled.

...

Bill couldn't quite hear what the men were talking about because of the noise the waterfall made. Suddenly it mattered no more. He saw how one of the men pulled Carson into view. He couldn't see him too well, but he could recognize him. He was a mess, he had possibly gone through a few hits before being drug there. Bill's heart skipped a beat when one of them men aimed a blaster gun directly at Carson's head. "CARSON! DAMMIT!"

...

Dusty was boiling in rage. He had been all day and night following their tracks, and now they had escaped. It was all in vain.

He pressed the gun harder against Carson's nape, angry as hell, before asking. "Where did they go!"

Carson sighed. He was more exhausted and pained than scared. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"

SLAM! Blood and a tooth flew away, as Carson's head was rocked by a strong hit. "I'm going to ask you again. WHERE'D THEY GO?"

"I don't know."

Dusty was already too frantic, and was starting to lose even more of his patience. He violently dug the cannon in Carson's skin. "You're partners, aren't you? You should have a plan for these situations."

"We just arrived here, we didn't make any plans."

"BULLSHIT!" And once again, the world trembled for Carson. This time, the hit dazzled him. He almost lost his feet, had it not been for the couple guys holding him from behind, who forced him to stay up. Dusty grabbed Carson's short hair as best as he could and forced him to look at him. "Where did they go?" He hissed.

"Isn't it obvious that they jumped?" Carson growled.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Dusty roared and kicked Carson in the stomach. "I'm talking about their destination! Where are they going!"

Carson took a few seconds to regain his breath. "I don't know, I already told you..."

"... I don't think he's going to spit anything." One of the thugs holding Carson from behind said.

Dusty could not believe it. This man was so stubborn. He didn't seem like he was saying anything. Dusty glared at him with bestial anger, for several seconds, before finally calming down a little. He sighed and tried to regain his composure. "I'll tell you something, friend. If you tell me where are they headed, I might knock you out here, and you'll still be alive in the morning. We'll leave you in peace, and you'll never hear of us again. Deal?"

For a second Dusty thought Carson was going to nod, but all he got was a sigh and nothing else. Dusty waited impatiently for an answer, then went mad again.

"Tell me something, dude, why do you give your life for that girl? What do you gain? I mean, you're gonna die and you won't get anything in exchange. Hell, we might even catch her and kill her, and you'd have died in vain. Why do you do this?"

Carson's reply came late, but strong. He didn't hesitate as he spoke. "Because she doesn't deserve to die. We're not going to let her die."

Dusty straightened back up with a wide smile on his muzzle. "Did you guys hear that?" He chuckled. "THE GIRL DOESN'T DESERVE TO DIE! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Everybody else present started laughing mockingly. It made Carson's blood boil with rage.

Dusty finally calmed himself a little. "You can't decide whether someone deserves to die or not." Dusty hissed.

"Neither can you." Carson retorted. "You don't have the right to take on any lives."

"Hah! And what can you do to keep me from doing so, huh? Your hands are tied, Mister Justice."

Carson stood silent. He had a point there. "I don't know, I have already done everything I could." He sighed. "I can only wait for you all to pay for what you've done."

Dusty smiled. "Sure. You can wait in hell." He said and pointed the gun at Carson's head and pulled the trigger. BANG!

...

The world around Bill stopped. Nothing else moved, nothing else made a sound, he couldn't see anything other than the body of his good friend, falling freely and immobile from atop the waterfall, and hit the water with a loud, splashing sound, lifting up a lot of water in his submerging. Bill's body cringed, as he wanted so much to run into the water and save his friend, but his mind told him no. There still were those men around.

...

Dusty watched the body of that bastard fall down and hit the water. "This turned out terribly bad." He sighed.

"You mean because we didn't get the girl?" One of them guys asked.

"NO! BECAUSE WE COULDN'T STAY HERE AND WATCH MOVIES WHILE WE EAT PIZZA!" Dusty roared with anger at the freaking idiot who said that.

"Geez man. calm do-"

"Shut the f*ck up!" Dusty barked. He turned at a wolf. "Tell Shoe and Scratch to check the road from here to Wallace Hills. The rest of you morons, get your asses down there and search for those two!"

"You got it." The wolf replied and did as Dusty said, with a cell phone. The rest of them men took separate ways and started looking for a safe way down.

...

As soon as the men were out of sight Bill took another dive into the water and searched for Carson. He didn't succeed, though. The water was too dark to see anything.

Suddenly, he spotted something floating ashore. He immediately knew it was Carson. He took no more time and quickly swam towards the shore.

Bill quickly arrived at the shore and knelt beside his unconscious friend. "Carson... Carson..." Bill started calling for Carson to wake up, at the same time he shook him. He couldn't speak too loud, those men were probably still around. "Carson... Car-" Then, it came into view. A puddle of blood, forming just below Carson's head. Bill turned his friend's head to see what it was, and the answer was devastating.

There was a huge hole on Carson head's left side. Blaster piercing.

The sight made Bill feel like he lost his strength. His arms and legs went numb as soon as he understood it. He let himself fall down on the soil and sit there, staring unbelievingly at Carson's dead body. He was gone. He was gone and there was nothing he could do to change it.

Suddenly, he heard some footsteps behind him, and turned his head. "Mister Bill...?" It was Miss Stuart. Bill quickly stood up to keep Miss Stuart from spotting the dead body, but it was futile. "Mister Grey is everything al-" She cut herself off at the sight of the dead man. The girl knew he was dead, and her heart broke in a thousand pieces. "... oh... oh no..." The girl soon broke into sobbing. "Please no..."

"Calm down Miss..." Bill tried to turn Miss Stuart away from the scene, so it couldn't hurt her anymore.

"No!" She cried and sunk her head into Bill's chest as she sobbed. Bill couldn't do anything but to hug her and rub her back, trying to comfort her. It was already enough to know that a gang of bad guys were trying to kill her, and now she had to see a man die. He could understand that her nerves could not stand it.

"Shhh... calm down. Calm down..."

"It's just not fair!" Miss Stuart whined.

"Keep quiet, those men could still be around..." Bill whispered.

"S-Sorry..." Miss Stuart sobbed. "It's just... too awful... this is all my fault..."

"Not true, that's not true." Bill quickly retorted. "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is, he died protecting me..." Miss Stuart kept on sobbing.

"Listen to me, Tanya..." Bill said and grabbed Miss Stuart's head and made her look at him square in the eye. "This is not your fault, okay? He knew the risks..." He said. Miss Stuart continued sobbing and looked down. "Your father paid us to keep you safe. We knew what we were risking, but we accepted because we, just like your father, didn't want you to die."

Miss Stuart raised her head and locked eyes with Bill. "He died protecting you, and I bet he would be mostly glad that he died protecting a life, because that was always his purpose." Bill said firmly.

Miss Stuart stopped sobbing and hugged Bill. "T-Thank you, Mister Grey..." She said.

"Don't mention it. For now, we should find a place to hide. They're most likely searching for us now..."

Miss Stuart nodded and walked into the forest. Bill was about to follow her, but then he thought that if those men saw the body, they'd know they were there. So with all the grief of his heart, he dragged the body back into the water, and let it sink. He walked into the forest, when felt something strange run down from his left eye to his chin. He immediately knew it was a tear. He felt a lump in his throat.

"Damn... I'll miss you, buddy..." He sighed downheartedly.


	11. The setup

**What's up everybody? Yes, after that long, LOOOOOOOOOONG period of inactivity, I finally found the words to continue this story. And, speaking of the long wait... sorry. There are a thousand things in my mind besides this story, that keeping the pace is just difficult. But anyway, here's the eleventh chapter my friends. Do enjoy it!

* * *

**Saint Louis, Corneria, Police station, 9:03 am.

...

"You were ambushed?" A tall, black male retriever asked Bill.

"Yes." Bill replied without emotion.

"How the hell? I mean, this was supposed to be an undercover operation, wasn't it? What were the chances they'd know where you were?"

"No idea Mister Johnson." Bill shrugged at the black dog. Dylan Johnson was a General from the CSA and director of the Saint Louis department. He was supposed to meet Bill and Carson in the Saint Louis department that morning, but he'd come rushing to the police station as soon as he received the call from the police chief, saying that they had rescued and agent of theirs from an ambush in the woods.

"What I'm sure of is that this couldn't have gone more wrong…" Bill said. "Maybe if that damn lawyer hadn't been so stupidly tight in his specifications... but ultimately it was our fault for accepting such a stupidly risky request. We weren't lucky I guess."

Johnson just nodded at what his agent was saying. It was true that the assignment had been risky, but not so stupidly conceived. The criminals had just been incredibly sharp in identifying and tracking down their target, along with the fact that they hadn't any kind of backup, not even radio, as devices that could detect radio emissions were easily and unfortunately accessible to the criminals. They were supposed to be completely incognito.

"The girl says that she didn't even get a chance to understand what was happening." Another man, this time a German Sheppard and the police chief, said.

"Yeah." Bill nodded. "We just woke her up and ran the hell outta there."

Johnson nodded.

"We were able to extract them from the forest before they were found," the chief said, "but agent Red was killed. We're having problems searching for the body, it seems like it was dragged down by the river's stream."

"I see... that's too bad." Johnson huffed. "Did you make any arrests?"

"Negative. All men were either killed or managed to escape. We're actively pursuing the runaways, though." The chief added.

Johnson sighed. "Right..." He then turned to Bill. "Well Grey, guess this wasn't your day, was it?"

"Guess so..." Bill sighed downheartedly. He knew this was going to be a dangerous assignment, but not to that extent. It turned out, though, that they'd been followed, chased, and struck with horrible strength. He and Miss Stuart had spent nearly two hours running from their chasers until Bill was able to call for backup. "How is Miss Stuart?"

"Well overall; She's talking with her father on the phone right now." The chief said.

"Have you already asked all you needed to ask her?"

"Yes, we're finished with the interrogation."

"And? What were you able to get from her?"

The chief took off his glasses and cleaned them. "Something really interesting, General." He said. "It appears the girl didn't eavesdrop just any gang meeting."

"What do you mean by that?" Johnson asked with curiosity.

"I mean to say that she eavesdropped a meeting between a small criminal organization's leader," the old dog said, "and Humberto Rosales."

"What?" Johnson gasped as soon as he heard such name. "Humberto Rosales? You mean THE Humberto Rosales?" He was skeptic about which man they were talking about.

"Yes, the one and the same." The chief nodded.

Bill listened to all they'd said and was just as surprised as Johnson. For a long, long time, Humberto Rosales had been one of those mafia leaders that was just untouchable. He had contacts everywhere and the wits of a true genius, defeating each and every measure the authorities took to stop his operations. He was the leader of the biggest smuggling ring of all Lylat, The Tulip's Group, which was responsible of the huge majority of weapons, drugs, counterfeit money and illegal goods contraband operations in the whole galaxy. More than just once had he been tried to take down, but he always outsmarted the police, army, mercenaries and bounty hunters that tried to do so. He was hard to track and that added to the fact that he used a false surname, he was almost impossible to catch. His ring had taken hits many times, yes, but he always found a way of restoring it. His influence extended all the way from civilians to politics, and for all the authorities knew, he was unstoppable.

"But how the hell? I mean, what were the chances that-? Just where the heck was this girl when she eavesdropped the meeting?"

"It wasn't nowhere as special." The chief said. "The story's not important right now. What's important is that we'll finally catch the bastard this Sunday." He smiled.

"How?" Johnson asked. "Did the girl hear something promising?"

"Something like that." The chief said. "It appears that they'll be holding another meeting next Sunday at the Aube Lumineuse Hotel to close a deal concerning weapons. Apparently, Rosales is going to sell them some pieces." He said. "We'll cover up the whole hotel and wait until the meetings starts, then we'll act. Rosales will not escape this time, I assure you."

"But," Bill interrupted, "how do you know Rosales won't postpone the meeting, knowing that she heard their previous meeting?"

"Not quite." The chief said. "According to what the girl said, she was discovered when the meeting was over and Rosales was long gone. I highly doubt they'll know she heard anything about the meeting." He said.

That seemed like about enough proof.

"That's quite the news, chief." Johnson said, still surprised. "We'll like to join in on the operation, if you don't mind."

"Of course." The chief nodded. "I just contacted the NBI* and CIA*, just after the meeting, and I'm pretty sure you'll get a call from them when you get back." He said. "It's too early to make assumptions, but the bastard will have nowhere to run this time, I'm sure."

"Perfect." Johnson said and stood up. "You can pass me on the details later, for now I'll walk this kid home, if you don't mind." He said and tilted his head to Bill.

"Of course, you can take your leave now." The chief said.

"Thank you chief." Johnson said. "Come on Grey, I'll get you to your car."

Bill didn't say anything, he just nodded. Even with the awesome lead they'd gotten, he wasn't very happy with how this small assignment had turned out. But he couldn't complain. Things just didn't went right. "With your permission chief."

"Go ahead." The chief said.

"Thanks." Said Johnson. He walked outside the office, followed by Bill.

Once outside, the annoying sounds of key pressing and chatter became louder than it was inside the chief's office. Lots of agents and secretaries were busy filling forms and writing reports, attending calls and just lazing about.

"Eh… let's get outta here Grey." Johnson frowned.

"Yeah yeah, let's do."

Bill followed Johnson outside and into his car. The General waited until Bill had closed the door on his side, then he took off from the place.

On the way, Johnson couldn't help but noticing how pensive Bill was. He didn't look sad or anything, just… ponderous. "Hey, Grey, something the matter?" Although he knew what heaved upon Bill, there were ways of breaking the ice.

"Mm?" Hummed a distracted Bill. "Err… no, it's nothing…" He replied.

"It's about Red, isn't it?"

"What? No, no, I… no…" Bill sighed.

"Eh… listen, I know how you feel about that." Johnson said. "After all, you and Red have been partners ever since you started working with us. You know, I also lost a partner when I was an operative. She was a great agent, and on top of that, she really had me head over heels."

Bill turned at Johnson and looked at him with surprise. "Really, General?"

"Hell yeah!" Johnson smiled. "I was young back then, so… well, you know…" He sighed. "The fact is, people die all the time, a lot more the people who fight to keep this society safe." He said. "Red was a great agent, one of the best we ever had, with many years of experience on him, but he knew what he was risking."

"Yeah, I don't doubt that." Bill nodded.

"Then you'll understand that he didn't die without purpose. His sacrifice was a necessary one I must say, and I'm sure that gal's utterly thankful to him."

"Yeah…" Bill sighed and nodded. He already knew all what the General said, but he couldn't help but feel grieved. As weird as it may have sounded, ever since he started showing him the ropes in the business, Carson had been like an uncle to him. He knew he'd been raised as an agent by him, and was all he was now because of him. Rest in peace, Carson Red.

"And, speaking of Miss Stuart…"

"Oh, no Grey, not that…" Johnson shook his head. "You cannot fall for this girl, sorry."

Bill just laughed. "I didn't fall for her, General."

"Oh… well, sorry. What is it then?"

"I was wondering, who's gonna take care of her from now on?"

"The police, naturally." Johnson said.

"I guess that'll do. Anyway, what I really wanted to ask you, is about this assignment concerning The Tulip's Group..."

Johnson gazed at Bill with skepticism. "What do you mean? You telling me you want to join in the operation?"

"I'd like nothing more than that, General." Bill said. "After what happened to Carson, the least I can do is making sure the job gets done."

"What? Really Grey?" Johnson asked.

"Absolutely, did that sound like a joke?"

"Well, no, but…"

"But what?"

"But I'm afraid I can't let you do so…" Johnson said.

"What? Why not?" Bill asked.

"Grey, you know as well as I do that no agent is allowed to work without a partner, and I think you know what situation you're in…"

"And? Isn't there any new recruits you could pair me with?"

"Yes, there are recent graduates, but there's no way the agency would trust them with an assignment like this."

"But why not? My first assignment was an elimination job!"

"Yes Grey but you need to understand this is more delicate." Johnson said. "One of the biggest criminal organizations of all Lylat is going to hold a meeting at a very famous hotel, where hundreds of civilians are staying. The guy has been evading the authorities for a long while, and we need the best we can find to take him down. We can't risk a rookie screwing things up."

"General you can't do this to me." Bill frowned. "You need people for the job, I want to do the job, and you just won't let me-"

"Not without a partner. Never." Johnson said definitively.

"Oh, damn this freaking life…" Bill hissed and turned his head away. Johnson just looked at him for a moment, sighed and turned his gaze back at the road.

His friend dead, his career on hold and his wishes declined, Bill was more upset than never. He wanted with all his strength to protect that girl, to make sure Carson's death wouldn't be a waste, and it was all neglected, because he hadn't a partner. _"Dammit! If only there was someone I could ask for help to..."_

But who? He needed a replacement for Carson. Who could possibly match or exceed that man's skills? Where could he find a skillful, knowing, reliable fighter to help him carry out this assignment?

"... but of course..." Bill's face lit up suddenly.

"Eh? Did you say something Grey?"

"Of course! Hohoho! Him! Oh Bill you idiot, you got angry for just nothing! He'll do! Of course he'll do! Haha!"

"Hey Grey! What you blabbing about!"

Bill suddenly shut up and smiled at Johnson. "General, if I presented you with a man, capable of carrying out the most dangerous of assignments, more skillful than anyone in the agency, then I could have the job, right?"

The General thought about it for a couple seconds. "Err... well, if you could get us the help of such a guy, then yes, you surely could have the job. But where will you find a guy like that?"

"Oh, I have already found him, General." Bill said pridefully.

"Really? Who?"

"Oh, it's an old friend of mine. You surely have heard about his exploits, he's really famous."

"Who are you talking about Grey?"

Bill just smiled at Johnson and proudly spoke. "Fox McCloud." He said with pride.

"What?" Johnson chuckled.

"Fox McCloud sir, Fox McCloud, I mean THE Fox McCloud, from Star Fox, yeah? You know him right?"

"Of course I know who he is, Grey, but what you're telling me is just hard to believe."

"And why is that?"

"Well, the guy has been on retirement for a long while. I heard the Army made him lots of juicy offerings for work but he just declined. Recently, I'd heard the rumor he was dead, so you know what I mean."

"Well, he's alive General." Bill said. "He's been my friend since we were kids. One occasion I got him out from a certain situation and he's been living with me since then. He knew Carson, and knew what we worked at. I'm sure he'll be more than willing to help me with this."

After that, the General seemed a little skeptic. But now he hadn't excuse for not letting Bill do the job.

"Okay Grey." He said. "If you can bring me the guy, I'll arrange for you two to do the job."

"I knew you'd say that!" Bill said brightly.

"There's a problem, though: you'll have to have him accept and bring him here FAST." Johnson said in a serious tone. "There's a lot of paperwork to do if we want him approved as a temporal operative, you know?"

"Yeah, temporal operative..." Bill sighed. "At least it's easier than making him an official member."

"I'm serious Grey." Johnson said. "If you two don't come back quickly I'll have no other choice than to discard you as candidate."

"How quick do I need to be?"

"Tomorrow I'd say; past tomorrow at the very least."

"Hey!" Bill exclaimed. "It'll take me the whole day to get there, and Fox isn't famous for making his mind up fast!"

"Sorry Grey but that's just the way it is. The meeting's going to be soon and I have to coordinate our course of action with those of the other institutions quickly. I'll be assigning roles as soon as we're coordinated and the plan's layout is done, so you need to be back fast."

"Okay..." Bill licked his lips. "I think I'll just put a knife to his throat..."

"That'll surely work." Johnson chuckled. "Good luck with that."

"Yeah, just drop me already." Bill said as soon as the motel where he'd left the car came into sight.

Various police officers were scattered around the motel, some investigating the parking lot with Plasma Spectrum-Detecting devices, and others just playing dumb around. Johnson stopped the car nearby and Bill got out of it.

"I'll wait for you and McCloud until tomorrow at night. You have until then to make the guy accept and bring him here."

"Yeah you don't have to tell me twice General." Bill waved his hand.

"Just a reminder; anyway, see ya later Grey." Johnson said. He turned the car around and then sped off back the way they'd come.

_"Geez... I hope the General waits for us a little longer than that..." _Bill thought.

During his short little rant he was interrupted by one of the present officers. "Excuse me, mister..."

"Grey, Bill Grey."

"Yeah, mister Grey. You, uh... came over for your car, right?"

"Yes I did. Why? Is there a problem?"

"Oh no, nothing. It's parked over there." The officer pointed at the black Spangler.

"Okay, thank you officer."

"Don't mention it, have a good day."

* * *

X

* * *

Capital City, Safe Relays Offices, 11:04 am.

"So... what you got?" Grace asked Fox. He was sitting across from her on her desk, holding five cards in his hands, hiding them from her.

"First tell me what you got." Fox answered.

"Well, let's see..." She placed the cards on the desk. "Flush... diamonds, honey." She smirked.

Fox grinned. "Hah! Straight Flush baby!" He said triumphantly as he showed his five clovers.

"Ow! You got me again!"

"You said it!" Fox smiled. "Now pay!"

"Rats..." Grace huffed and tossed a five credit bill on the desk. Fox snatched it quickly and saved it in his pocket. "It's the third time in a row... I can't help but think you're cheating..." Grace hissed at Fox.

"Hey Grace, I can be all you want but not a thieving cheater. Plus, I've never been the lucky kind of guy. I think life's just settling the score with me." He smiled brightly.

"Yeah, sure..."

"Hey, wanna get them back?"

"No thanks, I've lost enough money for a day..."

"Oh, come on!"

"Nope."

"Okay, tell you what." Fox said and took out all the fifteen credits he'd won for the day, plus the twenty ones he had to buy snacks. "This one's all or nothing. Uncovered. There's no way I can cheat in an uncovered game."

That caught Grace's attention. "Sure, Foxie? I won't lend you anything if I win!" She grinned.

"Grace, I've spent days without eating before. I can certainly survive an afternoon without a snack."

"Okay, place your bet-"

_"We all live in the yellow submarine!" _Fox's phone started ringing.

"Oh, excuse me." Fox said and answered it. "Yeah?"

_"Fox, what's up?"_

"Oh hey Bill!" Fox smiled. "It's your little cupcake!" He said to Grace.

"Oh, lemme talk to him!"

"Hey Bill, Grace wants to talk to you-"

_"Fox, hold on. Tell her I can't talk to her right now, I have something important to tell you."_

"Oh, uh... sure..." Fox said confusedly. "Wait Grace, he can't talk right now."

Grace's ears dropped. "What? But why?"

"He needs to tell me something... I dunno..." Fox shrugged.

"Oh... alright." She said a bit disappointed and sat down.

Fox nodded. "Okay, what is it dude?"

"_Fox… er, a… a tragedy has occurred." _Bill said uneasily.

"Uh? What do you mean?" Fox asked worriedly.

"_I recommend you go somewhere else, where Grace can't hear you."_

"Uh… alright." Fox said in low voice and walked outside the offices.

"Hey, where you going Fox?" Grace asked when she saw Fox was going outside.

It wasn't hard to formulate a lie. "The signal's weak. I can't hear Bill quite well."

Grace seemed to swallow it, and just nodded. Fox finally got outside.

"Okay, what is it?"

Fox heard Bill sigh on the other end. _"I won't fool around with you. Carson's dead."_

Fox's eyes snapped wide open as he heard those words. They fell upon him like silent bombs, all suddenly and surprisingly. That was the last thing he hoped to hear. "He what?"

"_Just like you heard. He's dead."_

"B-But how! What the hell happened!"

"_A tragedy man. I don't want to talk about it."_

Fox was at a loss of words. He was dumbstruck. He was skeptic.

He couldn't call himself Carson's closest friend, but he knew the guy. He'd known him for a couple of years and had become comrades with the old guy. Hearing that he was dead… just imagine it. The worst of all is that, maybe, if not Carson, it could have been Bill.

Fox tried to swallow the facts. It was hard to do it so quickly, but he managed to. "When are they gonna dismiss him?"

"_I… I don't know."_

"What do you mean you don't know? Have they not the body?"

"_No, they don't. Don't ask how or why."_

Fox frowned. Bill seemed a little… cutting. "Well… were you able to bring the girl safely?"

"_Barely. And about the girl, there's something I want to ask you."_

"And what would that be?"

"_Not right now. I'll tell you when I get there."_

"Why?"

"_Because it's something I must request of you in person. See ya later."_

"Hey!" Was all what Fox was able to say before Bill hung up. "The hell?"

Exactly. What the hell was going on? First Bill tells him Carson's dead and then he says he needs to talk with him about something really important, all in less than ten seconds. Fox just wasn't sure what to think about. The old guy's death was more than enough to make him lose his focus. Now he also had something to wonder about. Just imagine it.

"McCloud!"

"Uh?" Fox turned at the source of the voice. It was a white male poodle, wearing the same uniform as him. On his left breast pocket the name "Hamilton" was sewed.

"My shift's over, Catch!" Hamilton said and threw a couple of keys at Fox, which he snatched from midair.

"Where's the wagon?" Fox asked.

"It's in the garage, the things are where they always are."

"Okay. So, you're going already?"

"Yep, I need to eat something. See you tomorrow!" The old poodle said and walked off.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow..." Fox huffed. Now less than never did he want to work. He just wanted to hear what was that "important" thing Bill had to ask of him. But just wishing it wouldn't do him any good. Better have something to distract yourself than having a thought eat you up. So, he headed towards the garage, entered the wagon, and started his shift, all avoiding entering the office again. He wasn't in mood to talk to Grace or anyone anymore.

* * *

X

* * *

And so, the day passed, night fell, and Fox headed home. As soon as he finished all the deliveries, he just stashed the wagon inside the garage, hung the keys on their place, and took the first cab he saw. Normally, he would take a bus but he was too exhausted to wait all the time the bus had to take. Plus, he wanted to get home as quickly as possible so he could hear what was that what Bill wanted to ask him. He wondered what it was. What did he have to tell him just after Carson's death? Was it a secret of Carson? Something he'd asked Bill to tell him when he died? Or maybe he was finally quitting the job? That was what he wanted more, but, until now, Bill hadn't been any enthusiastic about quitting the job. Anyway, he'd soon discover what the fuss was about.

He got off on the same corner as ever and walked inside the same apartments building.

He took a peek inside. Mario was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was fixing someone's bathroom, cleaning some floor, or maybe just lazing about on work time. A clean building told him maybe he had already finished his daily tasks and probably was snoozing right now. He wondered if Bill was already at home...

...

"God this is the worst day in my life..." Fox sighed as he tossed the keys on the small table of the small living room, as always. He left himself fall on the couch, and let out a long and loud yawn.

"Oh, you're here..."

"What?" Fox turned at the source of the voice. Bill, as he'd suspected. "Oh, yeah, I'm here."

Bill walked from his bedroom to the single sofa on the other side of the room and across from the couch where Fox had seated down. He sunk himself in it, peeling a banana he had on his hand.

Fox huffed, looked for a moment at his feet, and then looked at Bill. He was already half done with the fruit. Silence soon became inappropriate. "So, you wanna tell me what happened today?"

Bill hummed with a mouthful of fruit in his mouth, took several seconds to chew, a while to swallow, another moment of silence...

"Come on, what is this? Someone got your tongue? Tell me what happened already! And don't come to me with your freaking "Don't ask" because I want to know." Fox frowned.

Bill didn't reply, he just stared at the lone, yellow skin of the eaten banana.

"Stop playing Mr. Serious and speak up already." Fox said.

Bill sighed deeply and finally spoke. "Sorry about that, man. I'm... a little depressed, that's all." He huffed.

"Well, next time at least tell me to wait." Fox sighed too. "And, sorry, about that..."

"Yeah yeah, don't worry..."

"...so, you gonna tell me what went on? Or no?"

Bill reclined himself on the sofa and let out a deep breathe. "I'm gonna sum things up because there are things to do. It appears that we had been identified by the organization before we set out."

"Do you have any idea as to how they did that?"

"No. They probably had a gossiper... anyway, we stopped at a motel to sleep. That's when they ambushed us. We tried to escape, but, Carson was too slow..."

"He was caught..."

"Yeah." Bill nodded slowly. "They held him for a while, then shot him and tossed him down a waterfall. The body was dragged by the river stream and is currently lost, that's why I don't know when is the dismiss gonna be." He sighed.

"Well, now that is a tragedy..." Fox sighed downheartedly. He was surely gonna miss the old guy...

"But, that doesn't matter right now." Bill said suddenly and leaned forward. Fox looked at him. "There's something I need to ask you... a favor, if you will."

"What is it?" Fox asked.

"Well, let's start by the reason. The info they got from the girl suggests the same organizations she spied on are going to hold a meeting at a local hotel of there." Bill said.

"Are you gonna try to catch them?"

"Yep. One of the leaders is a big fish that's been evading the authorities for too long. They want to put a definite stop to him, and I want to participate."

"Why?" Fox asked confusedly. "You already saw what happened to Carson. Why do you want to risk the same thing? And again?"

Bill huffed. "Listen. Carson Red was like an uncle to me. He died protecting that girl; I don't want his death go to waste. That's why I want to finish off these guys, I want to make sure his death wasn't in vain. I want to finish the job we started, I want to avenge his death. You understand?"

Fox nodded a couple times, thinking about what Bill just said. "Yes. Yes, I understand. That's the least Carson deserves, after all he did." He said, making Bill nod. "But I still don't understand what this has to do with me."

"I was just getting there." Bill said. "I want to take part on the operations, but they won't let me."

"They who? The agency?"

"Yeah."

"And why not?"

"Because I can't take on assignments without a partner." Bill explained. "The director's gonna assign multiple members to the operation, but every operative has to be backed up by at least another one. Solo missions aren't allowed."

"And now that Carson's dead..."

"Exactly. I don't have a partner no longer, and it'd be a long way before they assign another one to me. I asked for a recent addition, but they said rookies aren't cut out for the job. They say they need someone with experience, someone reliable, someone skilled..."

Fox didn't want to take advanced guesses, but he was almost sure what Bill was going to ask him. "Bill you, you seriously don't..."

"Oh, Fox." Bill said and raised his eyebrows. "I do."

"Okay, then do not anymore." Fox said.

"Eh?"

"Your heard me, Bill. You can forget about it, try finding someone else. I'm not going."

"But why not? You're a complete veteran, I bet my ass they won't find a man as fine as you for the job."

"Well, that's, sort of, flattering, but, I'm retired from that kind of action, man." Fox said and leaned back on the couch. "Aside from the fact that I'm probably too rusted now..."

"Rusted my ass." Bill said and shook his head. "I could bet one year worth of salary that you've still got it. One doesn't forget that kind of knowledge as you forget about paying the rent. Plus, we're not talking about fighting a large scale war. We're talking about busting an evasive coward who's responsible of two thirds of all the illegal deals in the whole galaxy. It's a mafia leader, Fox, what's there to lose?"

"Maybe your life, just like Carson did..."

Bill sighed, a bit angry at the point. "Unfortunately for Carson, they were too many men and we were out-powered and entirely on our own. But in a situation like this one, we're handed way more... appropriate methods. Not to mention we'll count with radio backup at all times. It all depends on the skill of the man, and we both know you've got one hell of a record behind you..."

Fox narrowed his eyebrows and sighed. "Maybe... but my answer remains the same."

"Aw! But why!" Bill pouted.

Fox took a few seconds to respond. "... isn't it obvious that I just don't want to? Besides, I'm not affiliated in any way to that agency of yours. What makes you think I can participate in their ops?"

"Fox, I asked the director himself if you could join us as a temporal operative, just for this once. He agreed. Now, it's all on your side." Bill pleaded. "You gotta accept man."

Fox took another moment of silence to think. He had the skill, and the availability. They would surely pay him more than he earned in his little deliveries job for this single assignment. He always saw how Bill always had money to spend. Since he paid all his expenses plus half of the apartment's rent, the difference in wealth between the jobs was more than visible. That was one small point in pro. Then, there was the risk factor. Almost null for a man with his skill, but still there. A small point against. He would be doing it for Carson and Bill, another good point. But another point against was... nothing, really. He couldn't say no to these facts, but still, there was something that bothered him.

"Bill, you know pretty well how much I dislike your job." Fox said after a long while.

"Yeah. Because you have sooooo much confidence in me..." Bill hissed and leaned back.

"That's not the point; forget for a moment about me, heck, forget about me forever. The problem here's not me, nor Mario, nor anyone else; it's Grace. Have you thought what would happen to her if you ever died? That would destroy her. I know her, Bill, and I know that she truly and sincerely loves you. It would devastate her..."

Bill sighed deeply. Fox had hit a nerve. "You... you're... right, it would be selfish of me to continue doing this..." He huffed. "But, it's also something I have to do."

"So?"

Now Bill was the one who started thinking about it. Although, the solution was pretty simple in reality. "What if this is my last assignment?" He resolved to say.

"Now that's something." Fox nodded. "You promise?"

Bill nodded with certainty. "I promise. After we're done with this, I'll quit forever. I'll seek any other job and never risk my hide again."

"That's what I wanted to hear." Fox smiled. "No more lies to Grace, huh?"

Bill smiled slightly. "Yeah, no more lies to my sweetie. So, I take it that the answer is yes?"

"Absolutely." Fox chuckled. "I bet I'll be able to eat at Leroy's for a whole week with what I'll get paid for this."

"And the best of all is that you will set the fee for this assignment."

"Oh, really? Pretty cool!"

"Hey, hold your horses man! You can't pretend to leech all their money out of them, or else they will ditch you. You must set a reasonable payment."

"Sure. You can tell me how much they pay you later and then I can think about how much I want." Fox said. "So, what do I have to do?"

Bill jumped up from his seat. "Be ready to go out at tomorrow's morning. We'll take the soonest flight to Saint Louis."

"What? Tomorrow? That's a little too soon don't you think?"

"Sorry man but that's the way it is. We have too little time go set everything up and if that wasn't enough, there's a lot of paperwork to do if you want to help. The director said that we must get there tomorrow's afternoon at the very least or else they'll turn you down. So get your bags ready, we'll spend a long while there."

"Really? Hell yeah! I love Saint Louis!" Fox feasted.

"Well then start prepping everything. We leave at first hour tomorrow."

"Yeah yeah, sure. I'm on it." Fox said and walked off to his quarters to get his things ready.

Bill just watched him go and smiled. He kind of liked the fact that his job was ending at last. Now he could finally settle down in the city and stay still. And, maybe, he could ask Grace that question... that important question, that would make him the happiest man on the universe, if only she said yes...

* * *

X

* * *

Cornerian Capital, Justice Palace, 09:11 pm.

_Tack... tack... tack... tack..._

Inside one of the many offices of the compound, an old, male gray wolf sat still on a chair, nervously hitting the desk in front of him with a fountain pen. The office's door was closed. The letter-board on it read "Drake Stuart - Attorney at Law" from the other side.

His only companion, a young male lynx, stood in front of a window, quietly gazing at the outside moon.

Silence was broken after a while. "Oh Frankie... I simply can't stand this..." The wolf spoke uneasily, gazing at the space in front of him with troubled eyes. The lynx, Frankie Rivers, was a young cop, and a friend he'd met in the courts since a long while. The guy trusted him, he was a close friend, and had told him the plan the police had to capture his daughter's pursuer, Humberto Rosales. He'd thought he had a right to know - he'd told him all he knew about the operative, even knowing that he had to keep silent about the plan, but it clearly had been a bad choice. Now, instead of being happy, Drake was as worried as he was before.

"You should be happy mister Stuart... the bastard's going to be captured soon!" Frankie said.

"That's exactly what's got me angry!" Drake growled. "I specifically ordered them to finish any who might represent a menace to my darling... and now they come with this? Simply unacceptable. I won't accept it. I want them to kill him! Not just try to catch him!"

"But what good does it do to kill him?" Frankie asked.

"What good would killing him make? Better ask, what good would letting him live make? Keeping him alive is a risk. The man is famous for his vast resources. I'm sure he'll get out as soon as he can and keep looking for my darling!" Drake said with utter fear.

"I don't think so, Drake." Frankie shook his head. "They've already asked her all they needed to. Rosales wouldn't need to keep looking for her after this."

"Bullshit!" Drake exploded. "He'll keep looking for her! I know it! He'll keep trailing her and won't rest until she's dead!" He said in utter panic.

Frankie just looked at his friend going mad and wondered how a man this volatile could be able to win a battle of wits in the court. Where was that cold headed lawyer he'd known for a long time from the courts? Not there, that was for sure. Maybe, he was just paranoid, with all this thing about his daughter being pursued by a criminal gang, anyone would lose his head. Maybe it was best to just leave him alone and let him cool down a little.

"You know Drake, it's getting late." Frankie said. "I think I'm going home for now."

Drake had been sunk in a paranoia mental storm and barely heard anything of that. He snapped out of his mind and looked up at the lynx. "What?"

"I'm going home for now." Frankie repeated.

"Oh... yeah yeah, you can leave..." Drake said.

Frankie nodded and walked to the door. He was just about to turn the doorknob of the door, when...

"Frankie..."

"Yeah?" Frankie turned his head at Drake before leaving.

"I... I'm, sorry about that." Drake sighed. "I'm, just... too scared..."

Frankie smiled. "Don't worry Drake, it's alright. She'll be fine, I assure you." He said. And with a nod from Drake, he left the place, leaving the old wolf alone in his office.

Drake thought more about the situation. Maybe, Frankie was right. Maybe, she was going to be fine. The police was looking after her, they were going to catch her pursuer, and everything was going to be alright. He'd soon be reunited with his daughter and it all would soon be nothing more than a memory...

Or, was it?

Gang members were famous for how vengeful they were. They didn't forget offenses, neither from brothers, enemies, men, nor women. They always kept their rancors at heart and looked everywhere for their offenders until they were DEAD. If Rosales was left alive, he'd surely look everywhere until he found the girl that sent him to jail, as soon as he got out. And if for some reason, he was indeed kept incarcerated, he'd surely send someone to do the job. And his daughter dead... that was the worst of his nightmares, something he could never afford to go through.

And if they found the girl, they'd surely find out who her father is. And then they'd go after him too, and chase him down until he's as dead as his daughter. And he couldn't afford that, either.

There was no way he could sleep well knowing that the assassin who wanted to kill his daughter is alive. He wouldn't sleep well, he wouldn't relax until he was sure the bastard was buried deep down in the ground.

But how could he even think of achieving that? Frankie had told him what the police's plan was and that there was nothing he could do to change it. But there must be some way... some way to make sure Rosales would die, and his daughter would not be at risk anymore.

Thinking of this, Drake remembered a certain someone. A someone he once saved from a certain juridical situation, and was in debt with him. She was well known among the powerful as one of the most reliable bounty hunters in the galaxy, and a great hired assassin.

"Of course..." Drake muttered. He could send this hunter to go kill Rosales before he was caught by the police. She could do it easily, there were a ton of ways of doing it without being discovered by the authorities. She'd surely accept, she was in debt with him, after all. But just to be sure, he was willing to pay her a great amount of credits for her success. Yes, that was the solution.

Taking out his cell phone, Drake dialed a number, and put the phone on his ear. It ringed a couple times before a soft, yet cold voice answered from the other side.

_"Hello?"_

Drake took a few seconds before finally speaking. "H-Hi, miss Kursed..." He said uneasily. Not because he was afraid or anything, but because the nature of his request.

_"Who is it?"_

"It's me, Drake Stuart..."

_"Ah! Good evening, Mister Stuart, how have you been?"_

"Very well Miss, thanks."

_"And to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"_

Drake hesitated for a second. "I-In fact, it's to bother you, miss."

_"... bother me? how?"_

"I've got a favor to ask to you, miss." Drake said, staring deep into the darkness of the lonesome office.

_"A favor? Of course Mister Stuart, anything for you. What do you need?"_

Drake took in a deep sigh. "I need you... to take someone out."

Drake heard no response for a couple seconds. Just silence. _"Who do you need out?"_

"It's a big fish, in fact. But I've got enough info to save you most of the job. You'll only have to identify him and take him out."

Kursed took a while to respond. _"A big fish huh? Sure. Anything for you mister Stuart. It's the least I can do for you after what you did for me."_

"Don't assume you'll get out of this empty handed, miss." Drake said. "This is very important for me, so I'll also pay you a generous amount of wealth."

_"Oh, there's no need to, mister-"_

"Yes, there is need." Drake interrupted. "I NEED this job done. I want to give you something to look forward to after it's done. One million credits... how does that sound?"

Kursed's silence gave away how struck she was by the payment amount. _"Mister Stuart, that's too much for-"_

"It's what I'm going to pay you." Drake interrupted. "My daughter's life is at stake, miss Kursed, and probably mine too. So, are you going to do it?"

_"... of course Mister Stuart. You can count with that."_

"Fantastic..." Drake sighed with relief.

_"So, who's this guy I'm gonna take out?"_

"Like I said, it's a big fish." Drake said. "He's the infamous leader of the Tulip's Group."

_"Humberto Rosales?"_

"Exactly."

* * *

**Now, about those little *'s besides those acronyms, here's what they mean:**

***NBI - National Bureau of Investigation**

***CIA - Cornerian Intelligence Agency**

**And I think you already know this one:  
**

***CSA - Cornerian Silent Army**

**Yeah, I know they're references to actual American government bodies - except for the CSA. Seemed like a fun thing to do. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, see ya later! But not too later!**


	12. ALT CHAPTER: The End by ConGie

**WARNING! Before reviewing this chapter, please put a dedication to ConGie first. He wrote this chapter, he and only he, not me. Please put something like, "For Congie..." and then the review. Please? Thanks.**

******Alright chumps, I'm still doing chapter twelve of this story. It's been hard for me to stay inspired, so, it's been advancing pretty slowly...**

******But anyway, good man GonGie, my BR, has written this chapter as an alternate ending for my story. It's not canonical, but it's a pretty good, satisfying alternate ending and I'm sure you'll like it. Please enjoy, he put a lot of effort into it.**

* * *

The light from Solar shone brightly as the lunch hour came to a halt, freeing up the streets of Saint Louis when many a soul returned to their place of employment. For them, the day was simple, for the police however, a different story need be told.

A magnitude of hover cars and vans drove down an equal number of streets, all on a schedule to block off any possible escape routes from a well known hotel by the name of Aube Lumineuse. Two SWAT vans along with six Police Issue Cruisers pulled into the front parking lot, while three more SWAT vans drove around back.

In perfect synchronization, all the doors opened and a small army of bodies poured out from within the vehicles. One squad went about the parking lot, disabling any vehicle in sight aside from their own with a small shock from a hand-held device connected to a pack slung across their backs. Another checked the area for any guards their target may have had stationed outside the hotel as did the men around back.

One SWAT member called out over his headset after finding the area void. _"This is Gorr, the perimeter is set and clear, over." _

_"Copy that, move in through the back upon the arrival of group 2."_ Came a reply over the radio.

_"Roger that, Command." _

On queue, three more cruisers pulled in around back and two in front, their inhabitants exiting immediately and joining those already stationed by both the entrance and the exit. Gorr's team of five kicked in the back door and poured into the structure, leaving those whom had just pulled up outside along with the others from the remaining SWAT vans.

The SWAT team quickly turned to the right upon entering, following their leader as silently as possible, their footsteps barely resounding from each set down taken. At the end of the hallway, they turned left into a corridor that broke off to both the left and right, four doors lining the walls.

Gorr held up his fist and they all froze, then motioned to each door, two men moved as he finished and kicked open the first two doors. The two men motioned back to their captain, leaving the doors open, then moved to the next two.

The same was repeated before the group continued forward to the intersection ahead. "Schultz, Daniels, and Garcia; go right. Williams and I will go left." Their leader ordered in a hushed voice before they split up.

Nearly a minute passed in silence as they checked every room they came upon before Garcia's voice came over the radio. _"I don't like this, Sir. We should have found something by now, anything at all. Staff members at the very least."_

_"Be careful what you wish for."_ Gorr replied, though he too was beginning to worry; something was very off about the calmness.

The group met back up as their respective hallways came back into one. Not far ahead, a white door stood that read 'kitchen'. The Leader motioned for Williams to check it as the rest of the group clung to the walls, laser rifles trained ahead.

As the door swung open, several shots rang out, all colliding with Williams' chest. He cried out and fell to the ground, smoke rising from his abdomen before another burst collided with his body, silencing him eternally.

_"Contact! Hostiles in the kitchen, permission to use lethal force, over!"_

_"Permission granted."_

They each set their rifles away from stun, a deadly whirr of energy meeting their ears as the guns charged to a higher frequency. "You heard 'em boys, give 'em hell!"

As one they all rushed in guns blazing, careful to jump over their fallen comrade's body, and taking several of the armed men as they went. The group split up after the initial charge, Garcia and Daniels went to the left, while Gorr and Schultz went to the right. They each found cover behind various equipment just as several more shots flew towards them from the remaining six guards.

Gorr opened a pouch on his vest and retrieved a Thermite Charge as he blind fired over his protection. He motioned to his team for the same and was met with an immediate response of gun fire. He pressed into the grenade's trigger with an adrenaline fueled strength before sitting up enough to aim and quickly threw the charge into the closest group of enemies.

"Move!" One called out just before a deafening blast rang out. Super heated Thermite shot out around the room, burning through the walls, ceiling, and anything else caught within the blast radius.

Garcia and Daniels vaulted over their cover a few seconds after the blast went off and fired round after round into any survivors closest to them. Seeing this, Gorr and Schultz quickly followed suit. The remaining enemies were quickly brought down by the SWAT team's rifles in an execution styled slaughter.

Several more shots flew passed Gorr's line of sight, narrowly missing his face, instead colliding into the wall in his left. He immediately spun without thinking, and held the trigger down, unleashing a flurry of heated shots from the gun's barrel. For a moment, he was free to stand and fire, but soon lasers were flying back in retaliation and he was forced unto cover via a stove.

As he hid, he scanned the area for his teammates, but found no trace of them. Another blast rang out closely followed by various shrapnel bouncing about the room. Moments later, Gorr rolled around his cover and sprinted to where the grenade had gone off, then hid behind a food cart. It was risky, yes, but it would have to do.

Not long after, firing continued, and not far from him either. To his right he could see the barrel of a rifle as well as on his left. Making up his mind, he rolled to the right and shot out the knees of his enemy. The man cried out as he fell before being silenced by a well placed shot through the skull.

This immediately got the attention of several others, though they too were quickly silenced by the rest of his team whom had taken his distraction and used it to their advantage. Gorr stayed low to the ground in the silence that followed for several long moments before carefully standing up and scanning the room.

"Body check." He pointed at two SWAT members, not sure which they were, as he walked back towards the door they had come through.

Schultz and Daniels ran a quick search around the room and found that they were the only ones whom remained among the living. "Room clear." Schultz said, Daniels nodding in confirmation as he finished his speedy recon.

Gorr sighed and looked down to the bodies he had just killed, each dressed in a cook's uniform, then to the body of Williams._ "Command, we have a problem. It seems we were expected. Requesting permission to fall back with KIA in tow."_

_"Permission granted, group 2:2 surrogate group 1:2."_

_"Copy that Command, moving in, over."_ Came another voice over the radio.

Gorr hung his head before motioning to his team and moving towards Williams. The team each took a limb, then began walking from whence they came; passing their surrogates along the way.

**(NEXT)**

Fox sighed as he listened over his radio and took a moment of silence to honor whomever had fallen. This was why he hated this job... There was always someone dead, it didn't matter if he knew the name, life was wasted either way.

Both he and Bill stood with their backs to the hotel's front, dressed in a SWAT uniform, though without the helmet; weapons at the ready. McCloud's heart pounded in his ears, knowing full well what was soon to be undergone, what he and everyone else near him came to do.

His trigger finger itched for the fight soon to come, regardless of how much he loathed it, there was a high of chemicals that came with each shot fired that he craved. It was an addiction that was never satisfied, even in old age. As many Veteran's have said to him over the years: _**"You may be out, but you never lose the attitude."**_ And he agreed completely.

_"Kitchen is secured, ready for any runners, over." _

_"Copy that 2:2, group 1:1 move in at the command of Fox McCloud. Records indicate no civilian presence in the building, lethal force has been authorized."_

_"Roger that command."_ Fox replied over his radio before charging his weapon to a lethal wattage. "Lock and load!" He called out across the parking lot, the sound of energy meeting his ears. "On me!"

No sooner had he finished speaking did he burst through the elegant double door entryway, Bill not far behind him. Shots immediately flew towards him, luckily, none colliding as he rolled behind the front desk; though some came horrifyingly close.

Fox breathed in the adrenaline rush as Bill found himself next to Fox soon after his own entry. "Did you see how many their were?" Bill asked in terror.

"Yes!" Fox replied, equally spooked. He blind fired over the desk, hopefully clearing a path for the men outside, as did Bill, though he shot around the corner of the desk instead. Several SWAT members flooded through the entrance, firing their weapons straight ahead, soon followed by many more.

Fox reached into one of the pockets on his vest and wretched free a frag grenade. Pulling the tab, he held the activation lever down before lugging it over the counter. As soon as the explosion went off, both he and Bill ran out from their cover, firing their standard issue rifles in unison towards the stairway at the far end of the room.

Many voices cried out in pain as a storm of lasers collided with their bodies, some passing all the way through. Fox dove to the side as one of the remaining enemies fired in his direction, the bolt singeing his suit at the bicep. As McCloud recovered from his dive, he fired a burst into the criminal whom had fired upon him before sprinting to the right side of the room where he found cover in an elevator.

"Bill! Over Here!" He waved from the elevator to his comrade whom was holding up one of the fallen bodies as a shield. Bill took notice and after firing several shots, took off towards Fox. He slammed into the back wall, letting a few more rounds fly free before he was safe.

"Thanks, Fox. It was getting a little intense there." He breathed as his partner pressed a button, closing the doors.

"No problem." He replied before talking into his radio. _"Group 1:1, Bill and I are moving to the 28'Th floor, we need a team with us as soon as the lobby is clear, the rest of you work your way up via the stairs, over."_

_"Copy that, McCloud." _Came a reply.

Fox pressed the button for the top floor and they began to move upwards.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to do that?" Bill asked. "I mean, we could easily be walking into a fight we can't handle alone."

"I know," He shrugged. "but they wouldn't expect this. It's reckless and leaves room open for Rosales to escape, if we had taken our whole group up anyways... But with just us, it's still safe."

"And what if they are expecting us to do exactly this?"

"Then we stay in the elevator." Just as he finished his sentence, the elevator stopped with a ding! And the doors opened. Fox held his rifle at the ready, and peered around the corner. What he saw however was not what he expected.

Blood was splattered across the hallway along with various grotesquely amputated limbs, the looks of it bringing forth hot bile. McCloud heaved at the sight, not used to seeing anything this horrendous in his life. Sure, he had witnessed death, but nothing like this before.

"Woah!" Bill scrambled out of the elevator to help Fox as he heaved his lunch onto the once perfect carpet. "You okay there, buddy? Was it that burger from that Italian place? I told you, you shouldn't have eaten that-"

Fox shook his head and pointed down the hall, earning some sort of gasp-cough-hack thing from his companion. It seemed like he too was going to be sick, but instead, swallowed down whatever had wanted free and turned his head from the gore fest.

McCloud was the first to recover and began walking down the hallway, VERY careful to watch his footing. Bill followed not long after, but didn't let go of his stomach as they walked together. The duo reached the end of the hallway and walked through the door, their gut beginning to settle enough now that it was easier to move without feeling their stomachs tighten.

What greeted them beyond the door was very much the same as the hallway behind them, though this was on a much larger scale. The room they entered looked to be an office... A very bloody office... Men in variously styled suits all lay, scattered about in a haphazard manner, not a single one given grace.

"Who could have done this?" Bill murmured.

Fox wanted to tell him, but no wards came to his lips. He looked around at the carnage and realized that these men were all thugs; gang leaders to be more precise. Suddenly, a groan of pain came from a body in the far right corner of the room, catching his attention in an instant.

He rushed over to the body of a young tiger, maybe in his mid twenty's; there was a large gash in the tiger's gut, his innards spilling from the cut like some horror film. The arms were laying limply at his sides, entirely removed from his body, and laying in a pool of dark liquid.

Fox wore a face of horror as he approached the young man, to whom looked up at him with red, tear streaked, pleading eyes. "Please... Kill me... I ca-can't take it anymore!"

Fox was stunned in silence, but was quickly brought back to reality. "Who did this to you?"

"I don't know! Just end it! Please!" The tiger wasn't going to make it... There was so much blood on the floor... Against all that the Vulpine believed in, he raised the gun he carried and took aim. The shot didn't seem to reach McCloud's ears, all was silent to as he took the un-armed man's life **(No pun intended)**.

Bill watched in silence, knowing full well that it was better this way, but he didn't like it. No man deserved to go like that; begging for his life to be taken. It took a true man to grant that sort of mercy, the image staying for weeks, haunting you relentlessly.

"Fox," Bill sighed and patted his partner on the shoulder, leaving his hand to rest there. "you did the lad a favor, it was the right thing to do."

"I know... But he shouldn't have had to die like that." Fox walked towards the door they had not yet entered and swung it open to reveal a small elevator door. The door opened at the touch of a button on a panel off to the right. The duo walked in and pressed the "up" button, the machine answering in a heartbeat as it rose one floor.

The door opened moments later to reveal a luxurious penthouse, filled to the brim with antiques of all kinds, and arts of all colors. Bill ventured furthest into the suite, but found nothing out of the ordinary and shrugged to his partner.

"You check the rest of this place, I'll go check the balcony and roof." Fox commanded. Normally this sort of attitude from Fox was intolerable by Bill, but considering the circumstances, he let it slide with a simple nod of the head.

Fox walked over to the glass door on the far side of the room and slipped through the opening out to the balcony. It wasn't large, so it was obvious that there was nothing there, so he looked for a ladder, which was on his right. He climbed the ladder rather quickly and walked across the top of the building, finding nothing for a few moments, but then he caught the sound of voices.

"Wait! Wait! I can pay you doub-triple! Triple whatever you are being payed!" The voice was male with a heavy accent.

"Hmm... How do you triple a favor?" Came a feminine reply.

Fox ducked low to the ground and followed the voices around many air ducts until finding two figures near the front edge of the building. The one closest to the edge was a large hippo in a very expensive looking tux, fear written all over his features. The second was a small... Vixen? He guessed from the body shape beneath the jumpsuit. She carried a barbed whip of some kind, a blaster pistol snugly fitted into a holster on her left thigh and... Is that... Is that a blue tail?

"You can bribe me all you want, but your options don't change." She brought back the whip and swung it forward, the barbs easily tearing into the hippo's tough flesh. He cried out in pain as the barbs were violently pulled back towards their owner, leaving long, deep gashes in his skin.

"Please! I can give everything you've ever wanted, and more! I don't want to die!"

The Vixen chuckled. "Look at the great Humberto Rosales, reduced to begging for his life from the hands of an assassin, just doing her friend a favor. You certainly are pathetic." The venom practically sprayed from her lips as she spat her words at him. "I'll tell you what, I'll cut you a break, IF! You can tell me my name."

Fox could see from where he hid the sweat begin to build on the great Humberto's skin, but there was knowledge in his eyes.

"Kursed! HAHA! I've heard of you! I've seen your face in the Underground's posters! You can't kill me now!" But she just shook her head.

"Do you honestly think I would use my real name in _this_ business? You underestimated me Rosales, and for that mistake, I'm afraid you have sealed your fate." She lashed out her whip once again, the barbs wrapping around his neck as his face went from fear to pain. The assassin yanked back, slicing her weapon through his throat, bringing forth a gurgling scream from the hippo.

The Vixen rushed forward as he fell to his knees, hands wrapped tightly around his neck in an attempt to save himself, and slammed her full force into his body, sending him toppling off the edge to the parking lot below.

Fox knew, but tried to deny it. He saw it not long after he noticed the color of her tail; the way she moved, the way she spoke... It couldn't be her... It just couldn't! He slowly stood up and moving as silent as the grave, took a few steps towards the woman before him, stopping only a few feet behind her.

She took a deep breath after Rosales hit the ground then spun around, her eyes meeting with his in an instant. The assassin froze, eyes wide in surprise as she caught sight of the Vulpine before her. His eyes wore a happy/sad emotion as his jaw nearly trembled.

_Oh no..._ She thought.

Fox worked furiously to stop his jaws feverish movement, swallowing many times after it stopped trembling in order to wet his throat, as it had grown dry. He was afraid to speak, but he knew he had to. With a great effort, so great that just the thought of saying her name, of this being her, brought tears to his eyes.

"Krystal?"

...**  
**

"Krystal?" Fox asked, his voice weary, eyes beginning to wet themselves.

The assassin closed her eyes and bowed her head in shame. She felt she didn't deserve to be called that name, not anymore... Not after everything she put him through... Though, if he addressed her this way, then she might still have a chance at some sort of redemption. With her voice beginning to waver, she replied in a child-like voice. "Yes... Fox..."

It hurt to say those words, like she had betrayed who she had become, but the pain was worth him knowing that the beast she had become was still, deep inside, the woman he had once known and... And loved. She made sure to beat herself mentally with the past tense form of the word: love. It only seemed fitting over past actions.

Fox had been sure that this meeting, if it ever happened, that he would be angry, but he wasn't. He was far from it, even after witnessing what he had. If anything, there was joy, albeit a burdened joy, but a joy nonetheless.

"Fox, I-... I-'m so sorry." Her voice choked out, emotional pain evident. "I'm sorry for everything I did back then, I was stupid... Stupid, young, and naive." Tears of her own were beginning to form upon her eyes.

He tried to talk again, to tell her something, but his tongue would not respond. She kept her head bowed in silence for a long time, waiting for him, though he didn't speak. She slowly began to sob, still keeping her face down. "Please... Say something, anything..."

Again, silence. Several minutes passed, though they seemed like hours in her mind; hours that ticked on for an eternity. "Please Fox, I need to hear your voice... Please..." Her mind was falling apart at the seems as the silence continued, all the while he just stared at her. Finally, after who knows how long, he spoke.

"Why did you go?" His voice still held a sadness only heartache could have caused.

"I was stupid Fox, I didn't understand.." Kursed continued sobbing, hoping, _praying_, that he could somehow find it in his broken heart to forgive her. It was so selfish to even want that after everything, but she needed to hear some sort of judgment from him, no matter what it was. But, as fate would have it, he did not speak again.

After several more minutes of painful silence she couldn't contain herself any longer, she had to get away from him, it hurt too much. The assassin began to move away, tail left to hang low, her head no different. She made it two steps before something caught her wrist and pulled her back, her whip falling free from her grasp. She gasped as she was embraced by strong arms that held her as close as they could to their owner's body.

"I-" Kursed was at a loss for words, was this forgiveness he offered her? "I don't understand?"

She could feel the fur on his face against her, wet with hot tears. His body shook as he held her, though his grasp not once faltered. Was he really forgiving her?

Fox slowly pulled away from her, though kept a good grip on her shoulders, afraid she might disappear if he let go. She still kept her eyes from him, too ashamed to even glance up for an instant. He slowly brought both hands from her shoulders to cup her beautiful face in his hands, and lifted her eyes to meet his. There was a pool of tears within those hauntingly stunning emerald orbs as well as confusion, with a hint of longing.

That longing was all it took for him to finally understand the many thoughts shooting off in his head, and his decision was made within an instant. He slowly leaned forward, until the gap between them was but a sliver, and closed his eyes. The last bit of distance was covered and time froze as their lips touched.

Her head was alight with question and confusion and many many other emotions. This couldn't be real, this had to just be another one of those dreams; any minute now she would wake up and it would all be gone. Time resumed as they parted, Fox pulling her back into his arms.

"Krystal?"

There was that name she didn't deserve again. "Yes, Fox?"

"Will you stay this time? Will you stay with me?"

His voice seemed to almost plead, as if he was afraid to hear what she would say. She knew what she wanted to say, but is it what he really wanted? "Do you really want me? A horrible, backstabbing little girl?" She sniffed.

"No, I want Krystal, the woman I love."

Her breath caught in her chest and she could feel her face heat to the same intensity as Solar. He really did want her, as awful as she had been, he really did want to grant her the name she didn't deserve, the life she couldn't have, the love she had always seen but never touched. He was offering his heart, with all the forgiveness in the would.

"Y-yes, I will stay, I promise."

* * *

_**I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I had writing it, I really got carried away =D seeyah!**_

_**The Sage of Water,**_

_**~ConGie**_

* * *

**Thanks for reading chumps. I beg you to give a review to this chapter, both I and ConGie will appreciate if you do. Remember, this is all ConGie's work, I had NOTHING to do in it, so DON'T FORGET to DEDICATE it SPECIFICALLY for him.**

**And don't forget this story still goes on. Chapter 12 is around the corner, so stay tuned! Thanks again.**

**NO REVIEWS = NO CHAPTER 12**


	13. AUTHOR: CANCELED

I'm sorry guys, but I must do this. When I first started out, this story was geniunely fun to write and I really wanted to finish it.

But as time passed I just lost interest. I was no longer writing for fun, I was just writing to keep it alive because some people liked it.

But let's be honest, most of you knew where it was going already and besides, it was a terrible story. Half the time I had no idea what I was doing – come on, mafia rings, pirates, secret agencies, delivery services? Load of bullshit.

So for your sake and my own, I'm killing it off. It's been three years since the last time I updated it and I still get favorite story notifications, which just make me feel worse about it.

You could take ConGie's alt ending as the true one if you want. Here's how the original story would've unfolded, just so you don't lose your sleep thinking about it, starting from this last chapter:

_Fox and Bill go inside the hotel where the meeting is gonna be held, accompanied by several undercover agents. Kursed, disguised as hotel staff, goes in too, because the lawyer father hired her to kill the mafia leader – you know, because she eavesdropped them and stuff? Anyway, things get out of control inside the hotel and a shootout breaks out. During the chaos, Bill and Krystal see and recognize each other. Bill tells her to leave and not bother Fox, making Kursed feel sad._

_They find out they're chasing the same target but for different purposes: Kursed has to kill him, while Bill wants to capture him. They both chase the guy up to the rooftop, where Kursed tries to kill him but Bill tries to tackle her, causing Kursed, filled with rage, to instinctively shoot him and kill him. She realizes what she has done and feels so terrible, she forgets about the mafia leader and lets him escape. Bill falls down the roof just in time for Fox to see it._

_Fox sees Kursed on the roof and tries to catch her, but amidst the initial chaos she manages to escape the hotel. However, Fox, hell bent on avenging his friend's death - that's where that "only thing he cherished" part comes from -, finds a flier of the hotel she was staying in during the chase, giving him a lead of where to search for her._

_Sure enough, he finds her in said hotel, but she escapes him again. Problem is she left her ship's keycard in the hotel, so she can't leave Corneria._

_What follows is a days-long game of cat and mouse around the city. They even run into Charles the cab driver once._

_Fox finally catches her in a motel but Kursed reveals her identity before he can do anything. Fox, both sad and angered, decides to just go away and disappear, but Krystal chases him down the street and asks him to stay and forgive her. They talk, Fox forgives her and asks for her forgiveness as well, they both forgive each other and there is a fluffy moment at the end._

_Four years later, Fox visits Bill's grave and tells him how things went out after he died. He then receives a call from his wife Krystal, who passes the phone over to their son Marcus, asking for some chocolate. Fox agrees, smiling, hangs up, says goodbye to Bill and leaves._

And that's how it ends. Sorry again for this. I might write again someday, I've thought some lighthearted ideas for stories over time, and maybe one day I'll write one of them. No promises though.

For this one, though, this is it. See you guys later, and thank you for sticking with it while it lasted, I really appreciate it. Goodbye.

- Rain Fox


End file.
